Department for Transport

Electric Scooters: Speed Limits

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that electric scooters have a maximum speed of 20mph.

Rachel Maclean: The Department is running trials of rental e-scooters to assess their safety and the impacts they have on the road. The regulations amend the existing legislation to treat e-scooters in trials largely like cycles and e-bikes. The e-scooters will be limited to 15.5 mph (the same as e-bikes). Privately-owned e-scooters remain illegal during trials regardless of their maximum speed.

Driving Licences: Autism

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people have had their driving licences revoked following a declaration of autism.

Rachel Maclean: Drivers who have an autistic spectrum condition do not need to declare their condition to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) unless it affects their ability to control a vehicle safely. When the DVLA receives such a notification it will carry out an appropriate medical investigation. A driving licence will only be revoked if the licence holder is unable to meet the required medical standards of fitness to drive. In 2020 (up to 18 November), 23 driving licences have been revoked on medical grounds for drivers who notified the DVLA of an autistic spectrum condition.

Driving Licences: Autism

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people who have been diagnosed with autism have had their driving licences revoked following a report to the DVLA from the Police in each of the last three years.

Rachel Maclean: The information requested is not recorded. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will not revoke a driver’s licence on the strength of a notification from the police. If the DVLA receives such a notification, it will examine the information provided to determine if there is sufficient reason to begin an investigation into the person’s fitness to drive. The DVLA will only revoke a driving licence for medical reasons if, following an appropriate medical investigation, the licence holder is unable to meet the required medical standards of fitness to drive.

Driving Licences: Foreign Nationals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the announcement of an 11 month extension for expired driving licences, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of extending the period by 11 months that non-EU driving licence holders can legally drive in the UK.

Rachel Maclean: Holders of driving licences issued outside of the European Union who become resident in Great Britain can drive small vehicles (motorcars and motorcycles) for up to one year from the date they become resident. To continue driving after this period the driver must either exchange their licence, if it was issued by a country which has been designated for licence exchange purposes, or apply for a provisional driving licence and pass both a theory and practical driving test. There are no current plans to review these arrangements.

Driving Instruction: Coronavirus

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support people who have had their driving lessons cancelled as a result of covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Rachel Maclean: Following Government guidance, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has suspended practical driver testing in England until Thursday 3 December 2020. The DVSA has asked approved driving instructors to respect the national restrictions in England, reduce day-to-day contact with others, and not carry out driver training until the restrictions have been lifted. Pupils can still have private practice using their own car providing they and the supervising driver are from the same household and it is travel for work, education or for other legally permitted exemptions.The DVSA is contacting candidates whose driving tests are affected by covid-19 restrictions to tell them what they need to do. The agency has made an additional 55,000 practical car driving tests available up to 18 April 2021 to accommodate new and re-scheduled tests. This is in addition to the 150,000 practical car tests already available in the booking system.

Public Transport: Coronavirus

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) steps his Department is taking to encourage people to use public transport instead of cars during the covid-19 outbreak and (b) estimate he has made of the number of passenger journeys by (a) bus, (b) car and (c) rail in Greater Manchester since March 2020.

Rachel Maclean: The government is clear that under current restrictions people should not leave their homes unless for a permitted purpose. Throughout the pandemic we have not regulated to restrict access to the public transport network as this could have an impact on the ability for people to travel when they need to, or for key workers to access employment. We are advising that the public follow safer travel guidance when they do travel. Weekly data on transport use at a national level since the start of pandemic is available here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-use-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic. However, it is not possible to break this national use down by all areas/regions due to sources of the data involved for near real-time reporting. Statistics on transport use by each mode in each area will be published in due course when the full data is available.

Eurotunnel: Coronavirus

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether test, trace and isolate measures apply to people travelling into the UK via the Eurotunnel.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Aside from a very limited number of exceptions, all passengers arriving in the UK, whether UK citizens or foreign nationals, must have completed a passenger locator form and, unless travelling from an exempt territory or region, are required to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival. These requirements apply to whatever mode of transport passengers use to travel to the UK, including Eurotunnel shuttle services. The Government publishes extensive guidance on these requirements at https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control/self-isolating-when-you-arrive.

A1

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy on safety on the A1 of the (a) frequency of motor vehicle accidents in the latest year-long period for which data is available, (b) proportion of journeys travelled by HGVs and (c) number of productivity hours lost due to motor vehicle accidents on the A1 between the M25 and the M62.

Rachel Maclean: Safety is the Department and Highways England’s main priority on all sections of the Strategic Road Network (SRN), comprised of England’s motorways and principal A-roads, and this is addressed through public information campaigns and infrastructure solutions where necessary. No specific policy assessment has been undertaken on safety on the A1 as distinct from other roads. The number of reported personal injury road accidents that included at least one motor vehicle in 2019 on the A1 and A1(M) was 802, with 326 being reported in the same year on the A1 and A1(M) between the M25 and M62. The proportion of journeys travelled by Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) on the A1 is not available. HGVs accounted for 11% of all motor vehicle traffic on the SRN in 2019, but this is not available to be broken down by road number. Data on productivity losses due to vehicle collisions is not routinely collected and monitored but is taken into account when assessing the need for specific policy responses such as infrastructure schemes.

Channel Tunnel Railway Line: Coronavirus

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on (a) Eurostar’s and High Speed One’s financial sustainability and (b) the long-term consequences for UK connectivity with mainland Europe.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Eurostar and (b) HS1 on international travel (i) during and (ii) after the covid-19 pandemic.

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on introducing a bespoke financial support package for (a) Eurostar and (b) High Speed One.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government recognises the significant financial challenges facing Eurostar and HS1 as a result of Covid-19 and the unprecedented circumstances currently faced by the international travel industry. The Government has been engaging extensively with Eurostar?and HS1 since the outbreak of Covid-19 earlier?this year, closely monitoring the ongoing impact on demand for international rail services. Department for Transport officials have also worked with Eurostar to access the various Government support schemes where appropriate, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. As Rail Minister I have also recently met with both Eurostar and HS1 to discuss these challenges. The Government will continue to engage closely with Eurostar and HS1 as we move towards the next phase of our Covid-19 response, and in particular as we look to restart our travel sectors when it is safe to do so.

Railways: Infrastructure

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to allocate an additional £10 billion of funding to existing railway infrastructure.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Expenditure across Government is currently being reviewed as part of the ongoing Spending Review. Specific funding for rail infrastructure is determined across Control Periods (usually five-years) via a statutory process overseen by the independent Office of Rail and Road. The current funding settlement was based on advice from both Network Rail and the Office of Rail and Road on the levels of expenditure needed to ensure a safe and reliable railway across the years 2019 through 2024. The funding for the next period will be set via the regulatory process, which is currently in its early stages.

Portsmouth and Southampton Airport: Railways

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an  assessment has he made of the potential contribution of developing increased regular direct rail links between Southampton Airport and Portsmouth stations to the Government’s levelling-up agenda.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Train services in the Solent area were recently examined as part of a Continuous Modular Strategic Plan (CMSP) undertaken by Network Rail with input from key stakeholders including the Department and SWR. The CMSP was published in May 2020 and explored options and constraints to introducing additional services. Analysis has shown that there are considerable railway geography / train path limitations that based on the existing infrastructure severely limit any ability to operate direct service between Portsmouth and Southampton Airport. https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Solent-Connectivity-Continuous-Modular-Strategic-Planning.pdf

Railways: Season Tickets

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require rail franchisees to provide part-time season tickets; when he will conclude his assessment of proposals received from train operators on ensuring increased value and convenience for part-time and flexible commuters; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government recognises the impact of Covid-19 on people’s travel patterns and therefore the need to accommodate a more flexible style of working and commuting. The Department has proactively approached the rail industry and is currently considering proposals received from train operators that try to ensure better value and convenience for travellers, but these are unprecedented times and our immediate focus must be on ensuring that we keep the railway available and safe for those who need to rely upon it.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions has he had with rail industry stakeholders on the effect of ending the transition period without a deal with EU.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Department for Transport officials have worked closely and constructively with the rail industry since the EU Referendum and with a particular focus, over the last 12 months, in ensuring they are preparing effectively and appropriately for 1 January 2021. Officials hold regular senior roundtable meetings with rail trade bodies, weekly and have fortnightly individual engagement with key parties. Rachel Maclean MP, Minister responsible for EU Transition and Future Relationship, has also met with members of the “Rail EU Stakeholder Roundtable” as recently as 17 November 2020. We are also engaging with government departments on cross-cutting areas important to the rail industry, providing written comprehensive guidance regularly and meetings, reaching out to as many businesses within the rail sector as possible, to ensure that they can operate smoothly following the end of the transition period. In addition to this, we have published formal guidance on running domestic and cross-border rail operations from 1 January.

Channel Tunnel Railway Line

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on rail crossings between the UK and France of ending the transition period without a deal with the EU.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The continuation of cross-border services between the UK and France is not contingent upon the outcome of negotiations with the EU. The Government has been working closely with the international rail industry to prepare for the end of the Transition Period, including preparing for changes to licensing and certification requirements, as well as changes to border procedures. The Government has also been supporting the relevant stakeholders to put in place robust contingency arrangements to secure the continuation of cross-border services in all scenarios.

Shipping: Employment

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review his policies on increasing the (a) employment and (b) training of UK (i) Ratings and (ii) Officers in the shipping industry after the EU transition period ends on 31 December 2020.

Robert Courts: The people chapter of Maritime 2020 made recommendations to government and industry regarding employment and training of the UK maritime workforce. These recommendations were made with full consideration for the UK’s departure from the EU. Policies are kept under review and may be amended to account for new evidence or thinking or where there have been significant changes in the domestic and/or international landscape. For example, a Cadet Review is currently underway looking at the number of officer cadets the sector needs in the future.

Shipping: Employment

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 does not reduce UK seafarer employment levels in (a) 2021 and (b) subsequent years.

Robert Courts: We continue to engage with industry and representative bodies to understand where Government can help to ensure job security to UK seafarers. The Department’s Maritime 2050 Strategy comprehensively sets out the current and future issues and opportunities for the UK seafarer workforce, as well as short- and medium-term recommendations for how these opportunities might be realised. One of those recommendations was the amendments to the National Minimum Wage which has recently been extended to all domestic operations in the UK territorial waters and to offshore activity in the UK continental shelf. It allows UK seafarers to compete against seafarers from lower cost markets and provides greater protection to UK operators in the offshore sector who may face competition from low cost operators.

Shipping: Cabotage

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to introduce cabotage legislation in order to regulate (a) employment, (b) merchant ship registration and (c) port activity in the coastal shipping sector which includes the offshore energy supply chain.

Robert Courts: The EU Regulation 3577/92 which guarantees market access to maritime cabotage in the EU will cease to apply in the UK at the end of the transition period. The UK would, at that point be able to introduce its own regulation on maritime cabotage for foreign flagged vessels operating in UK waters. However there are no plans to do this. The UK has historically operated and benefited from an open coast policy. Some aspects of maritime cabotage in UK waters fall under other legislation. For instance, some UK employment rules may already apply to all seafarers regardless of nationality working on ships that are operating predominantly within UK territorial waters, and will continue to do so after the end of the transition period.

Department of Transport: Marketing

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on (a) communications, (b) advertising and (c) marketing since 1 March 2020.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Communications activity spend by the Department’s Group Communications directorate for the period 1 March 2020 to 31 October 2020 was £3,729,428. This figure includes communications, marketing and advertising costs for communications campaigns: THINK! Road Safety, EU Transition, Engineering Take a Closer Look and Covid-19 related campaigns Safer Transport and Enjoy Summer Safely. Covid-19 and the UK's preparations for the end of the EU transition period are two of the biggest issues currently facing the country. It is vital people receive the information they need on these important areas, and we're using a range of channels including TV, radio, print and social media to reach as many people as we can. Information for the wider department and executive agencies for the two part financial years requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Jet Zero Council

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to include the Airspace Modernisation Strategy in the work of the Jet Zero Council.

Robert Courts: At the request of DfT and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Airspace Change Organisation Group (ACOG) was established in 2019 to coordinate the delivery of key aspects of the Government’s Airspace Modernisation Strategy (AMS), namely the national programme of airspace change amongst major UK airports. The Jet Zero Council (JZC) will take into account all of the decarbonisation levers available to ensure the sector reaches its net zero goals, including Airspace Modernisation, but will be primarily focused on driving forward areas that require further coordination such as zero emission aerospace technology and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

Highways England: Traffic Officers

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many full-time equivalent traffic officers were employed by Highways England in each region of England in each year since 2010.

Rachel Maclean: The table below provides an annual regional breakdown of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Traffic Officers as of 31 March each year. Records pre- dating the creation of Highways England in 2015 are not held. Region On Road Traffic Officers2016 FTE2017 FTE2018 FTE2019 FTE2020 FTEYorkshire & North East888796111108North West159162182205196East Midlands6069787886West Midlands107104121126119South West9086859692South East183174171163162East179167150180166Total FTEs864850884958929 (Total FTE numbers may differ slightly to the sum of the regional sections due to rounding of partial FTEs)

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the On-Street Residential Scheme is still available; whether Durham County Council has (a) applied for and (b) been allocated funding under that scheme; and which town and parish councils in County Durham have (i) applied for and (ii) been allocated funding under that scheme.

Rachel Maclean: The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), which local authorities can apply to for funding chargepoints for their residents without off-street parking, is still available. This year funding has been doubled twice, to £20 million. Durham County Council have been allocated funding for two ORCS projects this financial year, which will see 60 chargepoints installed across the County’s parish councils. As the Highways Authority for the area, Durham County Council have applied and will manage the projects on behalf of, and in collaboration with, the parish councils. We encourage any local authorities who have not yet taken advantage of the scheme to do so.

Transport: Coronavirus

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing financial support to international rail operators with UK connections during the covid-19 pandemic.

Chris Heaton-Harris: We recognise that the international rail sector, as with the rest of the international travel sector, has been significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. DfT officials have engaged extensively and supported operators across transport sectors, including the international rail sector, to make full use of the various government support schemes available where appropriate, including the Coronavirus job retention scheme. We continue to engage regularly with international rail stakeholders including Eurostar, Eurotunnel and HS1 Ltd, and monitor very closely the impacts of Covid-19 on this sector, as well as the decisions taken by companies in response.

Department of Transport: Consultants

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on (a) consultancy services including (i) communications, (ii) advertising, (iii) marketing and (iv) media buying since 1 March 2020.

Chris Heaton-Harris: For the core department, the amount incurred for consultancy from 1st March – 31st October 2020 is £53m. As with previous years, the majority of this is in relation to large scale transport infrastructure programmes. £96k out of the £53m relates to spend on Marketing and Communications Consultancy. Consultancy is defined as the provision of objective advice relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation, in pursuit of its purposes and objectives. Such advice is provided outside the ‘business-as-usual’ environment when in-house skills are not available and is time-limited. The numbers quoted here are from unaudited internal management accounting information.

Railways

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the UK's (a) rail industry and (b) rail network of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Chris Heaton-Harris: There is not a specific chapter covering rail in the negotiations between the UK and the EU. This is because we want to ensure the UK gains the flexibility to set rules that meets the needs of the UK domestic rail network. Department for Transport officials continue to work closely with government departments on areas that are important and impact on the rail industry and the rail network. Department for Transport officials engage very regularly with the rail industry to ensure they are preparing effectively and appropriately for 1 January 2021. In addition to this, we have published formal guidance on running domestic and cross-border rail operations from 1 January.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what risk assessment he has carried out on bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies for covid-19 vaccine candidates on the effect on availability of covid-19 vaccine candidates for healthcare workers and vulnerable groups throughout the world.

Amanda Solloway: The UK’s bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies for covid-19 vaccines include funding for research and development, investment in manufacturing and vaccine trials. This investment supports the global scale up of vaccine production and therefore the quantity of vaccines available for healthcare workers and vulnerable groups globally. The UK is a strong supporter of the multilateral Covid-19 Global Vaccine Access Facility (COVAX) initiative as a means to both get vaccines for the UK population and ensure equitable global access. The UK announced that it will contribute up to £500 million for the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment, which will give lower and middle-income countries equitable access to vaccines that are developed.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the veracity of reports that (a) AstraZeneca's no profit pricing commitment for the covid-19 vaccine will expire when that company declares the pandemic is over and (b) that company's contract for vaccine development permits declaration of the end of the covid-19 pandemic in July 2021.

Amanda Solloway: The timings or nature of any commitments regarding vaccine pricing are for the parties involved.The World Health Organisation declared a coronavirus pandemic on 11 March 2020, and we would expect it in due course to declare a move to a post-pandemic period as it has done previously for the H1N1 pandemic in 2010.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to ensure that any covid-19 vaccines are sold at cost and are accessible to (a) low-income and (b) middle-income countries.

Amanda Solloway: The UK’s bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies for covid-19 vaccines include funding for research and development, investment in manufacturing and vaccine trials. This investment supports the global scale up of vaccine production and therefore the quantity of vaccines available for low and middle-income countries. The UK is a strong supporter of the multilateral Covid-19 Global Vaccine Access Facility (COVAX) initiative as a means to both get vaccines for the UK population and ensure equitable global access. The UK announced that it will contribute up to £500 million for the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment, which will give lower and middle-income countries equitable access to vaccines that are developed.

Procurement: Coronavirus

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the terms of agreement between Oxford and AstraZeneca for their covid-19 vaccine.

Amanda Solloway: We are not able to disclose details of this agreement because of the commercially confidential nature of the contracts between the Government and vaccine manufacturers while commercial negotiations are ongoing.

Space Technology

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policy on future UK space capability of the Athena paper entitled A new Approach to Space.

Amanda Solloway: The Government is committed to making the UK a global leader in space. As we develop the UK’s first comprehensive national space strategy, we are working closely with partners across the sector to realise our shared ambition for the UK’s world-class space industry.

Space Technology

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a lead authority to monitor the implementation of the national space strategy.

Amanda Solloway: We are committed to making the UK a world leader in space and will put in place the right structures and governance to ensure our strategy’s success, overseen by the new National Space Council.

Space Technology

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what general programmes and themes he plans to include in the national space strategy.

Amanda Solloway: We are committed to making the UK world leader in space, building on our excellence in science to deliver solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges. Our UK Space Strategy will help the UK lead the way in this fast-growing, high-technology sector, levelling up our economy, strengthening our global influence and keeping people safe, including through a dedicated space innovation programme.

Space Technology

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, on what date he plans to publish the national space strategy.

Amanda Solloway: We are committed to making the UK a world leader in space and other high-tech industries. The UK’s first comprehensive national space strategy is therefore being developed under the direction of the National Space Council.

Space Technology: Skilled Workers

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the number of suitably qualified and experienced personnel (SQEP) in the UK space sector.

Amanda Solloway: The UK Space Agency is working closely with organisations across the sector to understand their varied requirements for SQEP. We are undertaking a nationwide Space Skills Survey to map the current learning landscape and identify gaps in provision of support. A Space Skills Advisory Panel, including expertise from across government, academia and industry, will then prioritise new training opportunities to ensure we can deliver a skilled and enthusiastic workforce for the space sector. The UKSA has worked with the Space Engineering Trailblazer group to develop a new apprenticeship standard at level 4, and continues to work with industry to finalise the standards for a level 6 apprenticeship in Space Systems Engineering. Work also continues with other Trailblazer Groups to address other space skills issues such as data applications. The UKSA also continues to raise awareness in the student body of the career opportunities presented by the space sector. This is delivered through country-wide careers engagements as well as through the Space Placements in Industry (SPIN) scheme. This successful scheme provides small grants to enable SMEs in particular to employ university students for short placements within their business, providing both meaningful work experience and developing skills in the interns to improve their employability. This year we received a record number of applications for the programme which was able to proceed with many projects being offered remotely, a threefold increase over previous years.

Research: Students

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward proposals to enable UK Research and Innovation to prolong funding for research students unable to undertake face-to-face interviews as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Amanda Solloway: The Government recognises that the disruption of recent months has impacted the ability of doctoral students to undertake their research projects. This has led to students having to adjust their projects, making decisions around changing their?approach, collecting different data, or changing the way they had planned to work with people, labs, archives or facilities. As it is not possible for all students to adjust their projects and training plan in such a way, I announced in April that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funded PhD students in the final year and whose studies have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic would be provided with additional support. Subsequently on the 11th November, UKRI provided a further £19.1 million of funding to support students in earlier years, including disabled students, those with long-term illness, those who are neurodivergent, or those with caring responsibilities. Combined, these two interventions have meant that UKRI has made over £60 million of financial support available to students most impacted by the pandemic. It is estimated that this funding is available for up to 12,000 students.

Procurement: Coronavirus

John Lamont: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether covid-19 vaccine procurement has been carried out at a UK-wide level.

Amanda Solloway: The UK Government has secured early access to 355 million vaccines doses through agreements with seven separate vaccine developers, which have been purchased for the whole of the UK.

Wind Power: Continental Shelf

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to amend the Contracts for Difference auction process for offshore wind farm projects on the UK Continental Shelf to weight the process in favour of developers who commit to the exclusive use of UK ports by their Tier 1-3 contractors.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government is currently consulting on proposals to strengthen Contracts for Difference (CfD) Supply Chain Plans, to align them more closely with government priorities. We propose to introduce consequences for non-delivery of commitments that developers put forward in their Supply Chain Plans and strengthen the monitoring process to support compliance.These measures should be seen alongside my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s recent announcement on £160 million of new funding towards investment to upgrade ports and infrastructure to ensure UK ports have the necessary facilities and capabilities to meet the future needs of offshore wind developers and remain competitive.

Wind Power: Continental Shelf

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to amend the Contracts for Difference auction process for offshore wind farm projects on the UK Continental Shelf to weight the process in favour of developers who commit to use Tier 1-3 contractors who employ (a) seafarers and (b) other maritime workers in the domestic supply chain.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government is currently consulting on proposals to strengthen Contracts for Difference (CfD) Supply Chain Plans, to align them more closely with government priorities. We propose to introduce consequences for non-delivery of commitments that developers put forward in their Supply Chain Plans and strengthen the monitoring process to support compliance.These measures should be seen alongside my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s recent announcement on £160 million of new funding towards investment to upgrade ports and infrastructure to ensure UK ports have the necessary facilities and capabilities to meet the future needs of offshore wind developers. Together with other commitments on offshore wind, this will enable the sector to support up to 60,000 jobs directly and indirectly by 2030 in ports, factories and the supply chains.

Wind Power

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will review the Crown Estate’s licensing process for offshore wind farms to ensure that (a) employment and (b) port activity in the supply chain is reserved for UK based (i) workers and (ii) ports after the EU transition period expires.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Crown Estate is an independent commercial business, created by Act of Parliament, and the Department does not have powers to review their licensing process. However, Ministers and officials of the Department work closely with the Crown Estate to ensure that offshore wind leasing process are consistent with the Government’s renewable ambitions to achieve net zero by 2050 while boosting the UK economy.

Carbon Emissions: Infrastructure

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will place a moratorium on building high carbon infrastructure such as expanded airports as part of the covid-19 recovery package.

Nadhim Zahawi: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s ambitious Ten Point Plan will ensure that our recovery from coronavirus will be green, generate jobs, and bolster the economy, whilst continuing to drive down emissions both now and in the future. Covering clean energy, transport, nature, and innovative technologies, this plan will enable the UK to forge ahead on delivering its net zero target – and to build back better. In the coming year, the Government will set out further plans for reducing emissions across the economy and delivering net zero. As part of this, the Government is committed to building a Britain with world class infrastructure. Spring Budget 2020 set out that the public sector will invest £640 billion over five years in our future prosperity. The Government will publish a National Infrastructure Strategy in due course, setting out further details on its long-term ambitions. The UK’s climate change framework enables the Government to determine how best to balance emissions reductions across the economy. Any net emissions increase from infrastructure projects are managed within the Government’s overall strategy for meeting carbon budgets and the 2050 net zero target, as part of an economy-wide transition.

Iron and Steel: Energy

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to reduce industrial energy costs for UK steel producers.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Government has helped steel companies to reduce their costs through resource and energy efficiency, including through a package of compensation and exemptions from electricity costs, and has provided more than £560 million in support to the UK steel industry since 2013. In?addition, we have established an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund,?backed by up to?£315 million?of investment. This Fund will help businesses, including steel companies, with high energy use in order to cut their bills and transition the UK’s industry to a low carbon future.

Carbon Emissions: Infrastructure

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will create a net zero test for all infrastructure policy and spending decisions.

Nadhim Zahawi: The UK’s climate change framework enables the Government to determine how best to balance emissions reductions across the economy. Any net emissions increase or decrease from infrastructure projects is managed within the Government’s overall strategy for meeting carbon budgets and the 2050 net zero target.

Nuclear Power

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his (a) policy and (b) strategy is on (i) the use of nuclear power and (ii) its future role in the UK.

Nadhim Zahawi: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister published his Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution on 18th November, in which he affirmed the Government’s objective to advance nuclear as a clean energy source. This includes large scale nuclear and developing the next generation of small and advanced reactors. The Ten Point Plan highlights the key role of nuclear in delivering deep decarbonisation of our electricity system alongside renewables and other technologies. One of the key targets is the publication of the Energy White Paper, in which further information will be provided.

Energy: Continental Shelf

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of adopting the recommendations of the Oil and Gas Authority’s UK Continental Shelf Energy Integration Project on employment levels.

Kwasi Kwarteng: We welcome the Oil and Gas Authority’s UKCS Energy Integration final report from August 2020. Its recommendations are under consideration across the full range of relevant policy areas within the Department and form part of the discussions around the North Sea Transition Deal, the focus of which will be on ensuring the oil and gas sector can support the energy transition and anchor the supply chain across the UK.

Energy: Continental Shelf

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to implement the recommendations of the Oil and Gas Authority’s UK Continental Shelf Energy Integration Project.

Kwasi Kwarteng: We look forward to continuing to work with the Oil and Gas Authority and other partners on this project. The recommendations and actions set out in the final report of the project are part of the wider government policy under consideration across a full range of relevant areas including electrification, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen, which could play a significant role in achieving the UK net zero target.

Electric Vehicles: Rural Areas

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of local electricity grids in rural areas to meet the potential demand as a result of a transition to electric vehicles.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with electricity network distribution operators on investment in rural electricity grids to meet potential demand as a result of a transition to electric vehicles.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Ensuring the adequacy of local electricity grids is the responsibility of Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), and they are incentivised to do so through the regulatory framework set out by Ofgem, the independent regulator. Network investment is therefore a matter for Ofgem. However, I recognise the importance of electricity distribution network investment in meeting our objectives for the electrification of transport, taking into account the particular issues that rural areas may face such as longer distances to substations. BEIS officials regularly meet DNOs covering both rural and urban areas to discuss the impacts of the electric vehicle transition and the benefits that local area energy planning can bring in coordinating transport and electricity policy and investment.

Electric Vehicles

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on levels of demand for electricity of the transition to electric vehicles by2030.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Each year BEIS publishes updated energy projections (UEPs), analysing and projecting future energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. The most recently published assessment (EEP 2019) included assumptions on the transition to electric vehicles and accounted for policies which were considered firm and funded by autumn 2019. Forthcoming energy projections will be updated to account for the latest policy decisions, including ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030. We expect the transition to electric vehicles to create significant new demand for electricity but also offer opportunities for flexible management of the electricity system. Smart charging during off-peak periods, when electricity demand is low, can reduce peak demand and avoid triggering unnecessary network reinforcement. It can also maximise use of renewable electricity and can benefit consumers with cheaper electricity.

Postal Services: Domestic Abuse and Homelessness

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of creating an Address and Collect service at Post Offices to allow those affected by (a) homelessness and (b) domestic violence to access their post safely.

Paul Scully: Officials are working with Royal Mail and the Post Office to consider the recommendations from Citizens Advice on an Address and Collect Service and a Poste Restante service for vulnerable groups.

Personal Care Services: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of the new national covid-19 lockdown restrictions in place from 5 November 2020 on the hair and beauty industry; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a bespoke package of fiscal support for that industry.

Paul Scully: We recognise businesses and jobs will be significantly impacted by Covid during the winter. That is why my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that, from 1 November, the Job Support Scheme is being expanded to provide temporary support to businesses whose premises have been legally required to close as a direct result of Covid. This will help businesses by supporting the wage costs of employees and protecting jobs. We’ve put in place an unprecedented package of support to support impacted businesses, including over £11billion already been paid out through the Small Business Grants Fund and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants Fund to over 897,000 businesses across the country, with a further £617 million available to councils to use at their discretion to support small businesses which are not eligible for the other grant schemes.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department plans to support new businesses to ensure that they can access a Bounce Back Loan during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown period.

Paul Scully: The Bounce Back Loan Scheme, launched in May 2020, has been introduced to help smaller businesses impacted by coronavirus (COVID-19). It is designed to help businesses who were trading prior to 1 March 2020 and have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. Other Government support is available for newer businesses during the pandemic, including the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans Scheme, which is available to individual who have founded businesses trading for less than two years. The Scheme offers access to affordable government-backed finance of between £500 and £25,000 per owner (limited to £100,000 per business) at a fixed 6% interest per annum.

Motor Vehicles: Sales

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department received to inform its decision to include car showrooms on the list of businesses that have to close apart from facilitating collections while national covid-19 restrictions are in place from 5 November to 2 December 2020.

Paul Scully: The Department for Health and Social Care created the guidance for the new national restrictions.

Post Offices: Closures

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many post offices have been closed in England as a result of being assessed as not commercially viable since 2018.

Paul Scully: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK and remains committed to the long-term sustainability of the network. Overall post office branch numbers are published yearly by the Post Office in their Network Report and Government, via UK Government Investments, monitors network numbers regularly. The report for 2018/19 can be found at http://corporate.postoffice.co.uk/media/46607/networkreport2019_final_190210.pdf. Changes to the Post Office network can and do happen, often for reasons beyond the Post Office’s control, for instance a postmaster retirement. When this happens, the Post Office will try to restore services as soon as possible by putting in place temporary arrangements or working hard to find an alternative location.

Public Transport: Job Creation

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Department for Transport on the role of the Green Jobs Taskforce in creating employment across public transport modes to 2030.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Green Jobs Taskforce forms part of the Government’s ambitious plan to build back greener and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, which will require action across Government. Ministers and officials engage regularly with other departments, including counterparts at the Department for Transport, on tackling climate change and delivering our net zero commitments. Department for Transport officials have been involved in cross-Government discussions to support the work of the Taskforce. We will continue to work together across Government as the work of the Taskforce progresses.

Environment Protection: Job Creation

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he will take to ensure that trade unions organising (a) seafarers, (b) port workers and (c) offshore oil and gas workers are consulted as part of the work of the Green Jobs Taskforce.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Green Jobs Taskforce brings together the views of businesses, employees and the skills sectors to support the Government’s ambitious plans to build back greener and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The core membership of the Taskforce includes representatives from the Trade Union Congress and Prospect. We are committed to hearing from a diverse range of voices and there will be opportunities for other stakeholders to contribute.

Oil and Gas UK

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether officials from his Department attend meetings of Oil and Gas UK’s Recovery Group.

Kwasi Kwarteng: We welcome the fact that Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) has established a group to address the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and the low oil price. This is a trade association initiative, and as such, the Government is not a member of the group. However, as part of our engagement with a range of sectors during the pandemic, we have held regular meetings with OGUK, at both official and ministerial levels, where issues affecting the industry during this crisis are discussed.

Wind Power: Job Creation

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be created in the offshore wind industry and its supply chain in (a) the North East, (b) England and (c) the UK in each year to 2030.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The number of jobs supported by the sector between now and 2030 will depend on the rate of build, the profile and level of investment, and the level of UK content in the supply chain.The Department has not made estimates on a regional or National basis. The offshore wind sector could support around 60,000 direct and indirect UK jobs by 2030, on the basis of 40GW of offshore wind being deployed, and the sector deal raising UK content in new projects to the target of 60%.

Wind Power: North East

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that offshore oil and gas workers in north east England made redundant during the covid-19 outbreak are offered support to re-train for work in the offshore wind industry.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government is closely monitoring developments related to potential impacts on the upstream oil and gas industry and is in regular contact with a range of stakeholders from the sector.In response to the pandemic, we have announced an unprecedented financial package to support businesses, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.In the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, the offshore wind sector committed to developing an Offshore Energy Passport (recognised outside the UK) to accredit offshore workers and facilitate job-mobility between offshore renewable and extractive industries. The sector has established an Investment in Talent Group, supported by a skills professional, who will identify skills needs across the sector, and develop curricula and accreditation to deepen the skills base.The Green Jobs Taskforce, which my Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills and I chair, forms part of the Government’s ambitious plan to build back greener and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.Its aim is to focus on the immediate and longer-term challenges of delivering skilled workers for the UK’s transition to net zero including supporting workers in high carbon transitioning sectors, like oil and gas, to retrain in new green technologies. This will also be a key aim for the upcoming North Sea Transition Deal.

Offshore Industry: North Sea

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the North Sea Transition deal; and if he will make a statement.

Kwasi Kwarteng: We are working closely with the offshore oil and gas sector to agree a transformational North Sea Transition Deal, which we have committed to deliver within this Parliament.

Hydrogen: Natural Gas

Mark Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with Ofgem on the future role of hydrogen in the UK gas networks.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Department regularly engages with Ofgem on a range of issues, including the potential role of hydrogen in the GB gas network. Continued collaboration will be essential in delivering these important programmes.

Renewable Energy: Continental Shelf

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on regulatory measures in the coastal shipping sector to increase domestic employment in the supply chain roles for (a) offshore wind, (b) decommissioning and (c) Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage projects on the UK Continental Shelf.

Kwasi Kwarteng: I regularly meet my colleagues in the Department for Transport to discuss a wide range of issues, including on how we deliver the aims of the Industrial Strategy.

Weddings: Coronavirus

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has for the long-term recovery of the wedding sector from the covid-19 outbreak.

Paul Scully: We are providing businesses, including those in the wedding industry, with a wide package of support to help them through the current crisis. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, the Local Restrictions Support Grants and additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses. We are continuing to engage with representatives from the wedding industry to discuss the longer-term reopening of the sector.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of enabling applicants for Bounce Back Loan top-ups to amend errors on their initial application where evidence for that error can be provided.

Paul Scully: In order to support businesses as quickly as possible, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) was designed with a streamlined application process, which included an element of self-certification. This allows lenders to process applications at a much quicker pace than would be normally expected in the issuing of a commercial loan. Whilst there is no mechanism in the scheme’s design to allow the borrower to revise errors made in the initial application once that application has been approved, businesses do have the option to refinance their existing BBLS facility using a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) loan. The CBILS process is separate and allows businesses to get a Covid-support loan based on a fresh application. Additionally, from November, 10 businesses have been able to ‘top-up’ their existing BBLS if they originally borrowed less than the maximum amount available to them. A borrower can apply for a top-up that is for the lesser of £50,000 or 25% of the annual turnover the borrower certified in their original successful BBLS application form, minus the value of their original loan.

Wind Power: Job Creation

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Green Jobs Taskforce, how many jobs he plans to create in the offshore wind supply chain by 2030.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The number of jobs supported by the sector between now and 2030 will depend on the rate of build, the profile and level of investment, and the level of UK content in the supply chain. The offshore wind sector could support around 60,000 direct and indirect UK jobs by 2030, on the basis of 40GW of offshore wind being deployed, and the sector deal raising UK content in new projects to the target of 60%.

Green Homes Grant Scheme

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Green Homes Grant scheme, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary home improvement measures have been completed since that scheme was launched.

Kwasi Kwarteng: As of 17 November 2020, 40,837 grant applications have been received. A breakdown of the number of individual voucher applications made for primary and secondary measures are as follows:Primary: 44,954;Secondary: 14,221. Vouchers become redeemable once scheduled works are completed. BEIS will continue to monitor application data as the scheme progresses.

Green Homes Grant Scheme

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Green Homes Grant scheme, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses that are eligible to register as a certified installer to administer home improvements under that scheme; and what number and proportion of those eligible businesses have so  successfully registered as certified installers.

Kwasi Kwarteng: As of 16 November, there were 1,196 businesses that are TrustMark registered and certified to install measures under the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme, with more registering every day. The majority of those businesses have now signed up to the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme. BEIS are working with TrustMark and MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) and PAS (Publicly Available Specification) certification bodies to support installers to get registered as quickly as possible.

Carbon Emissions

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government's policy is on anticipatory investment in decarbonisation projects; what plans his Department has to provide guidance to distribution networks on the funding of decarbonisation plans; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of decarbonisation investment on bills paid by customers.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Network regulation is a matter for the independent regulator, Ofgem. Government supports Ofgem in their work to ensure the price control provides an appropriate framework for distribution networks to invest as needed to support the transition to net zero. This includes capacity to support increased demand for low carbon technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps, and connecting new sources of low-carbon electricity generation. Government also supports Ofgem in their objective of ensuring network regulation protects consumers, including providing value for money on their energy bills.

Northern Ireland Office

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to support women from Northern Ireland who are required to travel to England, Scotland or Wales to access abortion services during the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr Robin Walker: Since the law on abortion in Northern Ireland changed following the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 coming into force in March 2020, the UK Government has continued to fund arrangements to enable women resident in Northern Ireland to have access to safe abortion services in England under the Abortion Act 1967. The Northern Ireland abortion scheme has been in place in England since June 2017 and the Department of Health and Social Care administers the scheme on behalf of the Government Equalities Office. The Central Booking Service can also continue to be contacted for support and advice on options available to access abortion services at present. If services are required, all costs of the procedure, including travel and, where needed, accommodation, will be paid for, with no means testing required. We are continuing to monitor the services being provided where any women and girls from Northern Ireland are still seeking to access services through this scheme.

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to ensure the swift and comprehensive commissioning of abortion services in Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Department of Health; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: Following the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 that the Government made having come into force in March 2020, we have been working to deliver, through the Northern Ireland Department of Health (DoH), the full commissioning of abortion services, in line with the Regulations we made. Some service provision has commenced on the ground in Northern Ireland through existing sexual and reproductive health clinics across most Health and Social Care Trusts. I and my officials are in regular contact with DoH in order to understand progress towards the full commissioning of services as soon as possible so that women and girls in Northern Ireland have access to high-quality abortion care in a range of circumstances, equivalent to the rest of the UK.

Department of Health and Social Care

Dogs: Coronavirus

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the recent trial of training dogs to detect covid-19 was successful.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the £10.2 million announced in June 2020 for mental health charities to support adults and children affected by the covid-19 outbreak, how and to whom that funding was allocated; and what steps he is taking to monitor the effectiveness of the spending of that funding.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the £1.5 billion announced on 30 June 2020 for hospital maintenance was designated for support for mental health facilities.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health: Coronavirus

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Centre for Mental Health's analysis entitled, Covid-19 and the nation's mental health: October 2020, published on 1 October 2020; and what steps he is taking to provide support for those with poor mental health as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Government's preparations between June and September 2020 for a second wave of covid-19.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies: Coronavirus

Jane Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the scientific advice from SAGE on the potential need for a national covid-19 lockdown in January 2021.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Gyms and Leisure

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that gyms and leisure centres remain open during any future lockdown restrictions due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Gyms and Leisure

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence informed the decision to close gyms and leisure centres during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) average and (b) maximum distance people are expected to travel for walk-in covid-19 testing.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

In Vitro Fertilisation: LGBT People

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his speech at the PinkNews summer reception on 4 July 2019, when his Department intends to (a) complete and (b) publish the review into IVF treatment equality for all, including the LGBT community.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Suicide: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have died by suicide in Harlow constituency compared to the national average in each of the last three years.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Suicide: Railways

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with the Department for Transport to help prevent suicides on the railways.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Fathers

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve mental health services for new fathers experiencing mental health difficulties during the perinatal period.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Maternity Services: Disadvantaged and Ethnic Groups

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to deliver safer maternity services to (a) ethnic minorities and (b) socially deprived communities.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Care Homes: Older People

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve the quality of elderly care in care homes across England.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate access to psychological therapies for adults with long-term common mental health conditions.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Integrated Care Systems

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to assist (a) local authorities and (b) the NHS to implement integrated health and care services.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Teachers

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that teachers are prioritised for covid-19 testing.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Students

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether students residing in England will be eligible for an award from the NHS Learning Support Fund if they choose to undertake a qualifying degree level course at a university in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Nurses: Students

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Learning Support Fund is available to all (a) new and (b) continuing degree-level nursing students.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Ed Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has in place to ensure people who are not registered with a GP surgery get vaccinated against covid-19 as soon as possible.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Collective Worship

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) advice and (b) guidance provided by the (i) Chief Medical Officer and (ii) Public Health England on the ban on communal worship during the November 2020 covid-19 national lockdown.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Public Health England had not been requested to research and publish detailed specific data on the numbers of COVID-19 cases related to place of worship and allied settings on outbreak investigation. This is now being performed.Throughout the pandemic, the Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic.It is known that confined spaces, multiple households, limited ventilation, and people raising their voices are all known to be risk factors when spreading COVID-19.

Dental Health: Children

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve dental health among children.

Jo Churchill: National Health Service dental practices are continuing to provide face to face care. The Department is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Chief Dental Officer for England to increase levels of service, as fast as is safely possible, taking into account Public Health England’s guidance and continued infection risks. Over 600 urgent dental centres remain open to support the provision of urgent and emergency face to face care.Public Health England’s Child Oral Health Improvement Programme Board and the Adult Oral Health Oversight Group have continued to meet and provide strategic oversight for oral health improvement during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Dental Health

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure oral health remains a priority during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: National Health Service dental practices are continuing to provide face to face care. The Department is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Chief Dental Officer for England to increase levels of service, as fast as is safely possible, taking into account Public Health England’s (PHE) guidance and continued infection risks. Over 600 urgent dental centres remain open to support the provision of urgent and emergency face to face care.PHE’s Child Oral Health Improvement Programme Board and the Adult Oral Health Oversight Group have continued to meet and provide strategic oversight for oral health improvement during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Healthy Start Scheme

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the uptake of healthy start vouchers.

Jo Churchill: The Department is currently developing a digital approach to Healthy Start, to make it easier for families to apply for and use the scheme. We are developing and testing an online application form for Healthy Start, to replace the current paper form, and a payment card to replace paper vouchers. All eligible beneficiaries receive a letter inviting them to apply for Healthy Start, together with a pre-populated application form. The scheme is also promoted through the Healthy Start and Start4Life websites.

Mental Health Services: Mothers

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve perinatal mental health services (a) during pregnancy and (b) in the first postnatal year.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We remain committed to improving perinatal mental health services for new mothers and their partners - not only during the current pandemic. From April 2019, new and expectant mothers have been able to access specialist perinatal mental health community services in every part of the country.The NHS Long Term Plan includes a commitment for a further 24,000 women to be able to access specialist perinatal mental health care by 2023/24, building on the additional 30,000 women who will access these services each year by 2020/21 under pre-existing plans. Specialist care will also be available from preconception to 24 months after birth, which will provide an extra year of support.

Prescription Drugs: Safety

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to meet the aims of the WHO Global Patient Safety Challenge to halve severe avoidable medication-related harms by 2022 compared to 2017 levels.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The World Health Organization (WHO) launched its third Global Patient Safety Challenge ‘Medication Without Harm’, in 2017, with the aim of reducing the global burden of severe and avoidable medication-related harm by 50% over five years.In response to this challenge, the Department established a Short Life Working Group (SLWG) to advise on a programme to improve safety in the use of medication, including the best way to measure progress. Their report, published in February 2018, made recommendations for a programme of work to tackle medication error and improve medicine safety.

Mental Health Services: Quarantine

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is providing for people with severe mental illness in (a) response to the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown restrictions and (b) preparation for winter 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Supporting the mental health of everyone is vital, especially in these unprecedented times. National Health Service mental health services remain open for business and will be available throughout the national restrictions and the winter, providing support online and by phone where necessary.All mental health trusts have established 24 hours a day, seven days a week urgent helplines where people with severe needs or experiencing a mental health crisis can access urgent support and advice. These will continue to provide support through the national restrictions and the winter.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to promote (a) knowledge and (b) take-up of PrEP among communities affected by HIV in addition to gay and bisexual men.

Jo Churchill: The Public Health England (PHE) commissioned HIV Prevention England (HPE) programme is currently running a campaign that aims to raise awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among black African communities. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.startswithme.org.uk/PHE’s Innovation Fund, has funded seven projects between 2017 and 2019 that tested and evaluated new approaches to raising awareness of PrEP in communities including, trans people, Latin Americans, black African men and women and women of colour. More information is available at the following links:https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/public-health-england-hiv-prevention-innovation-fund-cohort-2-evaluation-reporthttps://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/public-health-england-hiv-prevention-innovation-fund-cohort-3-evaluation-report

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to encourage schools, CCGs and local education authorities to work more collaboratively to tackle mental health issues in children and young people.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Government’s Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health aims to improve the provision of mental health support through its key proposals, including creating new Mental Health Support Teams in and near schools and colleges. These teams will support mental health leads in schools and colleges to put in place effective whole school/college approach to promote and support good mental health. They will work alongside the support that already exists, such as counselling, educational psychologists, school nurses, pastoral care, educational welfare officers, local authority provision and National Health Service mental health services.

Suicide: Pupils and Students

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the number of suicides involving (a) Secondary School, (b) Further Education and (c) Higher Education students; what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the incidence of suicides in education settings; and what steps his Department is taking on suicide prevention in education settings.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Departmental officials are in regular contact with counterparts at the Department for Education.We have made no assessment of the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on incidences of suicides in educational settings. To help us get access to quicker data on suicide numbers, Public Health England is piloting a national surveillance system to monitor suspected suicide and self-harm, by collecting near real-time data from local systems. This will allow us to identify patters of risk and inform national and local responses. In November, the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health research group published a report which used real-time data to compare the average number of suicides pre- and -post-lockdown. The researchers found no evidence of a significant rise in suicides post-lockdown in a population of nine million people. This does not identify which suspected suicides took place in an educational setting.We remain committed to supporting children and young people’s mental health and implementing the core proposals of our Green Paper on improving children and young people’s mental health provision. Our £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme is providing schools and colleges with the knowledge and access to resources they need to support children and young people, teachers and parents.

GP Surgeries

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which 10 GP surgery locations have the highest numbers of patients registered in (a) the East Midlands and (b) England.

Jo Churchill: The information is not held in the format requested.

Dental Services: Ventilation

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on the number of patients dentists are able to see of the use of ventilation systems in dental practices to increase the rate of air change per hour.

Jo Churchill: There has been no specific assessment.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice his Department is giving to local authorities on enforcing mask wearing in public spaces.

Jo Churchill: The Regulations that mandate the wearing of face coverings in an array of indoor, public settings in England also allow for exemptions and reasonable excuses.The Government expects the vast majority of people will comply with the rules, as they have done throughout the pandemic. However, the Regulations do give powers to the police and Transport for London officers to enforce the requirement to wear a face covering. In doing so, the police will use their usual ‘four Es’ approach: Explaining, Engaging, Encouraging; and Enforcing only issuing a fine as a last resort.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to exempt a person from covid-19 restrictions when they have received a vaccine; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: Currently there are approved vaccines for COVID-19. We keep all restrictions under review and will consider these in light of any significant developments.

Dental Services: Protective Clothing

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of dental practices which were unable to reopen on 8 June 2020 because they could not acquire personal protective equipment through their business as usual wholesalers.

Jo Churchill: No assessment has been made. However, supplies of the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) were made available by the Government to the dental wholesalers specifically to support the resumption of face to face care by dental practices from 8 June. National Health Service dental practices, in extreme circumstances, could also have approached Local Resilience Forum for emergency stock. The additional PPE needed, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now available free of charge for NHS dental contractors. A dedicated PPE portal has been developed to deliver these items. As of 4 November, over 5,100 NHS dental and orthodontic providers in England have registered with the PPE portal and over 36 million items have been delivered.

Speech and Language Therapy: Waiting Lists

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting lists for NHS speech and language sessions.

Jo Churchill: We want routine NHS services such as speech and language therapy to return for patients as quickly as possible, but this must be done in a safe and managed way. With a rise in COVID-19 activity, we have been clear that non-COVID-19 services will be maintained as far as possible. Trusts, working with general practitioner practices, have been asked to ensure that every patient whose planned care has been disrupted by COVID-19 receives clear communication about how they will be looked after, and who to contact if their clinical circumstances change. Clinically urgent patients should continue to be treated first, with priority then given to the longest waiting patients specifically those breaching or at risk of breaching 52 weeks by the end of March 2021.In the longer term, a critical element of reducing waiting lists for speech and language therapy is ensuring we recruit and retain the workforce needed to meet demand for services. To encourage students to study nursing, midwifery or one of the allied health subjects, including speech and language therapy, from September 2020 the Government has made available additional maintenance grant funding of at least £5,000 per academic year, for new and continuing students at English universities. In addition, students with child dependants will benefit from an extra £1,000.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria is being used to review guidance to (a) people shielding and (b) the clinically extremely vulnerable living in local covid-19 lockdown areas; and how regularly that guidance is being reviewed.

Jo Churchill: Following the introduction of new national restrictions on 5 November, additional advice and support has been provided to clinically extremely vulnerable people to protect themselves further from COVID-19. This advice, and the wider national restrictions, will remain in place until 2 December. At the end of this period we will return to a regional approach based on the latest data. The guidance to clinically extremely vulnerable people is regularly reviewed and the Government will not hesitate to make necessary changes.

Exercise Cygnus: Private Companies

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the roles were of private companies involved in Exercise Cygnus.

Jo Churchill: No private companies were invited to participate in Exercise Cygnus.

Strokes: Health Services

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help maintain support for stroke survivors during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the Government plans to continue delivering its commitments for stroke during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement have ensured that stroke services across England continue to provide rehabilitation and post-acute services to stroke survivors and their families and carers during the COVID-19 pandemic.NHS England and NHS Improvement have funded the Stroke Association over the last six months to provide Stroke Connect, which was developed in direct response to COVID-19 to ensure stroke survivors and their carers had support when discharged from hospital.The Department has also funded the Stroke Association over the last six months for them to continue to provide frontline support to stroke survivors and others connected to stroke during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Primary Health Care: Coronavirus

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of self care for minor ailments.

Edward Argar: During the COVID-19 outbreak, fewer people attended general practitioner (GP) surgeries and emergency departments. The period also saw an increase in use of NHS 111, with triaged calls increasing by 12.4% in April-October 2020 compared to the same period last year. The proportion of calls where patients were not recommended to attend another service or to seek advice from a pharmacy increased from 27.9% to 32.6% of all calls.This may mean that some people utilised self-care for some minor ailments, which would include seeking advice and over-the-counter treatments from pharmacists. While some minor ailments can be treated through self-care, the public should continue to seek and access care through NHS 111, their GP, and 999 if it is an emergency.

Coronavirus and Respiratory System: Health Services

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to delivering the commitments on respiratory health in the NHS Long Term Plan for (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21; and how much of that funding will be reallocated to long-covid related services.

Edward Argar: The National Respiratory Programme is a sub-programme of the wider Cardiovascular Disease and Respiratory programme. The Cardiovascular Disease and Respiratory Programme was allocated NHS Long Term Plan funding as follows:- 2019/20: £8.4 million; and- 2020/21: £15 million.During the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic all national programmes were asked to prioritise their programmes to ensure they reflected the needs of patients with COVID-19 and to adapt work projects for the new infection control measures.To support and strengthen respiratory services, an investment of £2 million was made to establish respiratory clinical networks for the first time in England and £46,000 was also used to contribute to the development of the Your COVID-19 Recovery online platform. The Cardiovascular Disease and Respiratory programme also reprioritised £3.5 million to support people recovering from long COVID-19.

Department of Health and Social Care: Consultants

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees for (a) communications, (b) advertising and (c) marketing since 1 March 2020.

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on (a) communications, (b) advertising, (c) marketing and (d) media buying since 1 March 2020.

Edward Argar: The Department has spent £9,000 on consultancy fees since 1 March 2020 in respect of communications related activities. This cost reflects the consultancy spend recorded on the digital, engagement and content cost centre. It is possible further communications related consultancy costs have been incurred in other areas of Departmental business however these are not separately identifiable.In terms of media buying, the Department has spent £10.7 million since 1 March 2020. For spend on communications, advertising and marketing, the information is not collected in the format requested.

Hospital Beds

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list by month total ICU bed occupancy in the NHS in each of the last three years, including the current year to date.

Edward Argar: The information requested from November 2017 to February 2020 is shown in the following table. % of Open beds occupiedYearPeriodAdult critical care bedsPaediatric intensive care bedsNeonatal critical care cots (or beds) 2017-18November84.6%82.9%74.0%2017-18December82.2%79.9%70.9%2017-18January86.6%77.2%71.5%2017-18February85.4%79.3%69.7%2017-18March82.6%78.7%72.3%2018-19April81.9%73.8%72.2%2018-19May79.9%73.3%72.9%2018-19June79.6%75.4%74.2%2018-19July78.3%72.4%69.8%2018-19August78.4%66.2%70.1%2018-19September80.0%76.1%69.3%2018-19October80.8%77.2%73.8%2018-19November82.7%87.6%72.5%2018-19December75.4%74.1%67.4%2018-19January85.3%79.3%70.1%2018-19February81.5%77.4%70.1%2018-19March80.7%77.3%71.2%2019-20April80.8%77.0%70.2%2019-20May79.2%73.3%70.8%2019-20June80.6%74.9%73.3%2019-20July79.6%73.8%69.9%2019-20August79.4%64.7%69.4%2019-20September80.8%74.4%69.9%2019-20October80.9%76.5%69.7%2019-20November82.9%83.5%73.0%2019-20December75.3%79.6%71.5%2019-20January83.0%79.2%71.2%2019-20February81.1%81.3%69.3%Notes:Data relating to the number of available and occupied critical care beds is a monthly snapshot taken at midnight on the last Thursday of each month and can fluctuate from month to month.Before February 2011, data on critical care beds were published bi-annually in a separate collection. Therefore, critical care data published until January 2011 should be treated with a degree of caution.3. In November 2018, NHS England published refreshed guidance for MSitRep which provided clarification on the definition for Paediatric Intensive Care (PIC) bed availability and occupancy. This update was made to ensure definitions reflected the latest terminology and Paediatric Intensive Care Society (PICS) standards, to improve data quality and address overcounting of PIC beds (including possible inclusion of some high dependency unit (HDU, level 2) beds. Therefore, PIC bed availability data from November 2018 shows a step change, with the 339 reported beds in November 2018 being approximately 130 – 140 lower than previously in 2018-19 (around 460-470 available beds).Due to COVID-19 and the need to release capacity across the National Health Service to support the response, NHS England have paused the monthly collection and publication of critical care bed capacity. However, from 12 November 2020, a separate weekly data update commenced which includes data on adult critical care capacity and occupancy. Data from 2 November to 15 November is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/uec-sitrep/urgent-and-emergency-care-daily-situation-reports-2020-21/

Dental Services: Plymouth

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the availability of dental care in Plymouth; and what additional financial and practical support he will give to dental practices in Plymouth to enable them to restore provision.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in Plymouth are on a waiting list to register for NHS dental care.

Jo Churchill: We acknowledge the impact that COVID-19 has had on the provision of National Health Service dentistry across the country and we are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to increase the level of service as fast as possible, acknowledging the ongoing social distancing and infection, prevention and control requirements. NHS England and NHS Improvement South West have also established 12 urgent dental centres to support the provision of urgent face to face care, for patients to access across the region. NHS England and NHS Improvement have committed to fully funding dentists usual NHS earnings through 2020/21 minus an agreed deduction of 16.75% for the reduction in variable costs whilst practices were closed during the first period of national coronavirus restrictions. NHS England and NHS Improvement have also produced guidance to support practice. The latest guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/dental-standard-operating-procedure-transition-to-recovery/NHS England and NHS Improvement South West report that as of September 2020 there are 15,802 people in Plymouth waiting to access an NHS dentist on the list that NHS England and NHS Improvement holds.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what clinical information his Department uses to inform policy on tackling the backlog of cancer treatments.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement use a variety of data sources to focus improvement action on the right areas of the pathway. This data includes published cancer waiting times data giving the official month by month figures on activity, referrals and waiting times, as well as management information which can give a week to week view of activity and the current scale of the waiting list.Sources of data such as Hospital Episode Statistics and, the timelier but less robust, secondary uses service are used where finer detail on specific treatments or services are available, alongside specific sources of information such as the Radiotherapy Dataset or the Diagnostic Imaging Dataset where appropriate.

General Practitioners

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP appointments there were for minor ailments in England in each month since January 2019.

Jo Churchill: Data is not collected or held in the format requested.

Medical Treatments

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure (a) patients with secondary breast cancer and (b) other patients having noncurative treatment are not deprioritised for treatment ahead of a potential second wave of covid-19.

Jo Churchill: Ensuring cancer services have continued throughout the pandemic has been, and continues to be, a priority for this Government. This includes services for those with secondary cancers, and patients receiving noncurative treatments.The strategy for maintaining services through the second wave stands, with key messages including: maintaining or stepping up hubs for cancer surgery; maximising independent sector use; ensuring good patient communication, with use of pathway navigators and safety netting; continue to step up cancer clinical trials; and further rolling out of Rapid Diagnostic Centres and stratified follow up, with redeployment of staff or pausing of invitations considered only as a last resort.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will instruct NHS England to amend the guidelines they issue to clinical commissioning groups to extend the criteria for the prescription of the freestyle libre glucose monitoring device to people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Jo Churchill: The criteria for being prescribed the freestyle libre glucose monitoring device were extended on 11 November 2020 to include both people with Type 1 diabetes and people who have insulin treated Type 2 diabetes who are living with a learning disability and who are recorded on their general practitioner’s learning disability register.

Obesity: Young People

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's strategy entitled, Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives, published on 27 July 2020, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on plans to reduce obesity amongst adolescents, as a distinct group compared to adults or children.

Jo Churchill: My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on improving the health and wellbeing of all age groups including adolescents.

Rare Diseases: Medical Treatments

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all rare disease patients in the UK have access to licenced treatments as soon as possible after approval by the European Medicines Agency.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has taken steps to recognise, for two years, future European Medicines Agency decisions for medicine licences including for rare diseases approved through the centralised authorisation procedure from January 2021 and provide United Kingdom licences with no additional assessment.The Government has also established the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, which will continue to give patients with seriously debilitating conditions prompt access to medicines that do not yet have a marketing authorisation, when there is a clear unmet medical need.

Drugs and Medical Equipment: EU Law

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether, through the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill 2019-21, his Department plans to amend the definitions of (a) medicines, (b) medical devices and (c) biocides, as set out in Article 1 of Directive 2001/83/EC through the European Medicines Agency framework.

Ms Nadine Dorries: There are currently no plans to amend the definitions of medicines and medical devices through the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill. The Bill does not enable amendments to be made to the definition of ‘medicinal product’ in the Human Medicines Regulation 2012.The Bill does provide the powers to amend the definition in the Medical Devices Regulation 2002 for ‘medical device’, should a future need arise, for example to reflect innovative technologies not yet captured in the definition. Biocides are outside the scope of the Bill and are regulated by the Health and Safety Executive.

Obesity: Health Services

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether funding will be provided to expand programmes to tackle obesity and support weight management services in the forthcoming spending review.

Jo Churchill: Funding decisions for the next financial year, including obesity programmes, are being considered as part of the ongoing Spending Review. The conclusion of the Spending Review will be announced on 25 November.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: a Green Paper, published by his Department in December 2017, what progress he has made on the pilot of four week waiting time access to specialist NHS children and young people’s mental health services.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We have made good progress on, and remain committed to, carrying out the Green Paper’s core proposals, including piloting a four-week waiting time to access specialist National Health Service children and young people’s mental health services. In 2018 we announced the first 25 trailblazer sites delivering 59 mental health support teams in and near schools and colleges. Twelve of the trailblazer sites are also testing four-week waiting times specialist NHS services, and they will deliver a recommendation for the phased introduction of an access and waiting time standard for children and young people’s mental health.

Obesity

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on implementing the obesity strategy published in July 2020; what support will be made available through that strategy to help people with obesity maintain weight loss; and if he will make a statement.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Department has to improve healthcare services dedicated to adolescents with obesity.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to support long-term weight loss; and if he will make a statement.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to help ensure resumption of (a) Tier 3 and (b) Tier 4 weight management services continue during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 October 2020 to Question 94726.

Coronavirus: Mothers

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with the Health and Safety Executive on gathering and retaining data during the covid-19 outbreak on health and safety breaches regarding pregnant women and new mothers.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The methods for collecting meaningful data on health and safety breaches regarding pregnant women and new mothers during the COVID-19 outbreak are complex and unlikely to result in a data set that can provide useful information.The Department is working with the Health and Safety Executive, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and health departments in the devolved nations on developing guidance on occupational health advice for pregnant women in the workplace. The Department plans to publish the guidance shortly.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish guidance for support groups operating under Paragraph 11(6) of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020, to ensure the consistency of advice from local authorities to those groups.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Guidance on the current restrictions is available on GOV.UK at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november#where-and-when-you-can-meet-in-larger-groupsThe Department is not planning to provide specific advice on support groups to local authorities.

Exercise Cygnus

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the report on Exercise Cygnus identified a need for additional mental health provision during a pandemic.

Jo Churchill: The provision of mental health services during an influenza pandemic was not explicitly tested as part of Exercise Cygnus.However, we are committed to supporting everyone’s mental wellbeing, especially during unprecedented events such as pandemics, and have ensured that mental health services have remained open throughout the current COVID-19 pandemic.We are continuing to work with experts from the National Health Service and from public health to assess what further help and support people might need to maintain their mental health over the next few weeks and months. In addition, we have released tailored guidance to help people deal with their mental health and wellbeing on GOV.UK at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-the-public-on-mental-health-and-wellbeingWe are also promoting this through the Every Mind Matters website.

NHS: Negligence

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to introduce fixed costs in clinical negligence cases up to £25,000 to prevent rising litigation costs within the NHS.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The continued rises in clinical negligence costs are eating into resources available for front-line care; this is unsustainable. This is despite our substantial safety programmes.In 2017 the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice commissioned the independent Civil Justice Council (CJC) to draw up a new claims handling process for clinical negligence claims of up to £25,000, together with proposals for fixed recoverable costs for these cases.The CJC published its report with recommendations on a new claims handling process for Clinical negligence claims up to £25,000 in October 2019. We are analysing the report closely and will consult on next steps shortly.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of administering a covid-19 vaccine; and what the budget headings are for that cost estimate.

Jo Churchill: The estimated cost of administering a COVID-19 vaccine and the budget headings are still being finalised and therefore are not yet available.

Employment: Pregnancy

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to employers to allow all pregnant women who pass (a) 20 weeks or (b) 28 weeks gestation to work from home or be suspended on full pay during the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department is working with the Health and Safety Executive, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and health departments in the devolved administrations on developing guidance on occupational health advice for pregnant women in the workplace. The Department plans to publish the guidance shortly.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce health passports as part of its future covid-19 vaccine roll-out strategy.

Jo Churchill: Whilst deployment of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine would be a significant step forward, we do not yet know what impact this will have on the current wave of the pandemic. We first need to improve understanding of the any potential vaccine in order to fully understand the potential of health passports as part of our future COVID-19 vaccine roll-out-strategy.

Operating Theatres: Fire Prevention

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will instruct NHS Improvement to require the Centre for Perioperative Care to consider preventative guidelines on surgical fires as part of the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs) Redevelopment workstream.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The national patient safety team at NHS England and NHS Improvement have been involved with the Expert Working Group on the prevention of surgical fires, chaired by the Chief Executive of the Association for Perioperative Practitioners, to consider the prevention of surgical fires and will continue to support the development of guidance to prevent these types of incidents from occurring. The Centre for Perioperative Care have taken on the responsibility for ensuring that the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures continue to be fit for purpose. NHS England and NHS Improvement will continue to support their progress on this.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what safeguards have been put in place in the logistics supply chain to ensure that a vaccination for covid-19 when approved, can be (a) quickly and (b) efficiently distributed.

Jo Churchill: The Government has asked the National Health Service to be ready to deploy any safe, effective vaccines when available. As part of the extensive planning, the NHS is working with all stakeholders, including the United Kingdom logistics industry, to be ready to mobilise when a vaccine becomes available. This includes working with partners to ensure there is dedicated logistics to support the national effort.

Bereavement Counselling

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce variation in bereavement support and (b) improve the adequacy of provision of that support throughout England.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Government is taking a cross-Government approach to address bereavement support and help ensure that families and friends of those deceased get the support they need, particularly during this difficult time.We are engaging with bereavement support organisations, the National Health Service and arm’s length bodies to assess how we can help make sure that there is adequate support available across England and reduce variation.On 22 May, the Government announced £22 million of funding to life-saving health charities, £4.2 million of which will be used to support mental health charities and charities providing bereavement support.

Mental Illness: Health

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to achieve the target of 60 per cent of people with a severe mental illness receiving an annual physical health check by 2020-21.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The NHS has committed to ensure that 60% of people with severe mental illness receive a comprehensive physical health-check and follow up, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.   NHS England has issued communications to general practitioner surgeries to ensure that the physical health of those living with severe mental illness is protected this winter. This includes asking practices to identify people with severe mental illness who are clinically vulnerable and offering those people comprehensive physical health checks and follow up interventions, free flu vaccines, depending on their eligibility, and a care plan review as appropriate. Public Health England will issue tailored communications to those with severe mental illness around protecting their physical health this winter, and to encourage them to take up their free flu vaccination if eligible.

Dentistry: Coronavirus

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answers of 22 October to Questions 100521 and 100519, whether (a) private General Dental Practitioners, (b) General Dental Practitioners offering NHS and private treatment, (c) NHS General Dental Practitioners, and (d) Community dentists employed by non-NHS organisations are defined as healthcare workers for the purposes of priority access to a covid-19 vaccine.

Jo Churchill: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has published interim advice on prioritisation for COVID-19 vaccination. This advice includes vaccination of all health and social care workers, which would include all dental practitioners. The JCVI’s interim advice is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/priority-groups-for-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-advice-from-the-jcvi-25-september-2020The advice provided is to support the Government in development of a vaccine strategy for the delivery of a vaccination programme to the population. The JCVI’s advice will be updated as more information on developmental vaccines become available.

Influenza: Vaccination

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of formaldehyde free flu vaccinations in (a) Ellesmere Port and Neston and (b) England.

Jo Churchill: The flu vaccines being offered for the 2020/21 flu season do not include formaldehyde as an ingredient.Formaldehyde is used during the manufacturing process of some inactivated flu vaccines. It is used to kill or inactivate the flu virus so it is possible that residual traces of it may remain in some flu vaccines.Formaldehyde is not used in the production of the following vaccines currently used in the United Kingdom Influenza Immunisation Programme; the live attenuated influenza vaccine Fluenz Tetra used in the children’s flu programme and the cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVc), Flucelvax Tetra.

Perinatal Mortality: Registration

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on publishing the report on registration of pre-24 week stillbirths as legislated for in the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019.

Ms Nadine Dorries: ‘The Independent Pregnancy Loss Review: Care and support when baby loss occurs before 24 weeks gestation’ was commissioned by the Department. The purpose of the review is to consider the impact on families of the current threshold of 24 weeks gestation before being able to formally register a miscarriage if they so wish, and whether it would be beneficial to look at legislative options to amend existing primary legislation to allow parents to register a miscarriage if they wish to do so.Good progress has been made on the review, but work was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Work has resumed and the review now plans to report to the Secretary of State for Health in the new year.

Home Births: Coronavirus

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of additional home births since the covid-19 restrictions on maternity services began; and how many of those additional home births were undertaken against medical advice.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department does not currently hold this data.

Coronavirus: Teachers

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include teachers in the list of groups that will be given priority to receive covid-19 vaccinations.

Jo Churchill: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who provide advice to Government on which vaccine(s) the United Kingdom should use, and which groups to prioritise. The JCVI will consider each vaccine and provide their advice to the Government once detailed information on the characteristics and clinical properties of the approved vaccine becomes available.The committee – in their interim advice - have advised that for Phase 1, the vaccine first be given to care home residents and staff, followed by people over 80 and health and social workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors in the initial phase. We will consider the Committee’s advice carefully as further data emerges in preparation for subsequent phases. Our vaccination programmes are led by the latest scientific evidence and we expect the Committee’s advice to develop as more evidence is gathered.

NHS: Negligence

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medication errors have occurred in the NHS in each of the last three years; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent those errors.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The number of medication related incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) as occurring in England in the last three years is shown in the following table. A patient safety incident is defined as any incident which could have, or did, harm a patient receiving National Health Service-funded care and is not synonymous with error. Incidents reported do not represent the actual number of incidents which may have occurred. Reported incident typeApril 2017 - March 2018April 2018 - March 2019April 2019 - March 2020TotalMedication204,162216,177222,514642,853 Note:The medication category represents approximately 10% of reported incidents per year. Incidents reported under other categories such as medical device incidents may also partly relate to medication – for example when medication is given via a medical device. This data is publicly available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/national-patient-safety-incident-reports/The Medicines Safety Improvement Board continues to work to deliver the recommendations of the Short Life Working Group (SLWG), which advised on how to improve safety in the use of medicines. A review of the progress against the recommendations of the SLWG is being conducted on behalf of the National Director of Patient Safety and is expected to report to the Medicines Safety Improvement Board in December.

Coronavirus: Sick Leave

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the need for further guidance on (a) shielding and (b) support available for clinically vulnerable groups to be able to retain their work and income during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: Shielding was paused on 1 August 2020 in England. On 13 October, the Government published new guidance to the clinically extremely vulnerable that advises additional things they are advised to do to keep themselves safe at each local COVID alert level. We are writing out to all those on the shielded patient list to inform them of the new guidance and the support that is available. Those who are identified as clinically vulnerable, should continue to follow the same advice as the rest of the population within that local COVID alert level.Currently, everyone is advised to work from home if they are able. If not, they should return to the workplace. Employers are required to take steps to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19, ensuring the workplace is COVID-secure. If an individual has concerns about their health and safety at work, they should raise them with their workplace union, the Health and Safety Executive or local authority.

Prescription Drugs: Safety

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations of the Short Life Working Group on reducing medication-related harms; and if he will reconvene the group to identify a five-year future plan.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Medicines Safety Improvement Board continues to work to deliver the recommendations of the Short Life Working Group (SLWG) which advised on how to improve safety in the use of medicines.A review of the progress against the recommendations of the SLWG is being conducted on behalf of the National Director of Patient Safety and is expected to report to the Medicines Safety Improvement Board in December.The Department has no plans to reconvene the SLWG on reducing medication-related harms. Medication harm is included in the 10-year National Health Service National Patient Safety Strategy.

Dental Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the availability of NHS dentists.

Jo Churchill: National Health Service dental practices were able to restart face to face care from 8 June. We are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Chief Dental Officer for England to increase levels of service, as fast as is safely possible, taking into account Public Health England guidance and continued infection risks.Almost all the over 6,000 NHS dental practices in England have now reopened. In addition, over 600 urgent dental centres remain open to support the provision of urgent and emergency face to face care for dental patients. Any patients unable to get urgent care at their own practice should be referred to urgent dental care centres, where needed locally.

Health Services: Females

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Patient Safety, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, of  24 September 2020, Official Report, column 1243, when the Women’s Health Agenda is next planned to meet; and whether the issue of painful hysteroscopy is on the agenda for that meeting.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Women’s Health Agenda is not a formal group and there are no meetings of the Women’s Health Agenda planned.However, we are committed to considering the issue of painful hysteroscopies as part of our ongoing work on women’s health and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is currently reviewing the guideline regarding out-patient hysteroscopy, which has an explicit focus on minimising pain and optimising the woman’s experience.

Dental Services: Coronavirus

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional financial support has been made available to ensure the financial viability of dental practices during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement committed to fully funding dentists usual National Health Service earnings through the peak of the pandemic with a small deduction to reflect the fact practices were asked not to provide face to face care during that period due to the risk of infection. Practices that have reopened are now receiving their full funding. Expectations for delivery for the remainder of 2020/21 are currently being carefully considered in discussion with the British Dental Association.Private dentistry is independent of the Department. However, for their private earnings dentists can access the full range of HM Treasury schemes that have been made available to support businesses, the self-employed and those on salaries during the COVID-19 period.

Autism: Mental Health Services

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support autistic (a) adults' and (b) children’s mental health (i) during and (ii) after the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The National Health Service has worked hard to keep mental health services going during the COVID-19 pandemic, using technology where needed but also face to face appointments where appropriate.During this time, the Government has provided £10.2 million of additional funding for mental health charities to support adults and children struggling with their mental wellbeing. We have also provided a further £6 million to support various charities, including those working with people with a learning disability, autistic people and people with complex needs.Under the NHS Long Term Plan the Government is also investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in mental health services by 2023/24 to support adults and children, including autistic people.

Dental Services: Children

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Consultation, Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, published on 22 July 2019, when he plans to implement the Government's commitments on children’s oral health.

Jo Churchill: In ‘Advancing our health: Prevention in the 2020s’, we committed to consulting on rolling out a supervised toothbrushing scheme in more pre-school and primary school settings in England. We also committed to exploring the barriers to increasing water fluoridation. No date has yet been set for this consultation.

Operating Theatres: Fire Prevention

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to classify surgical fires in operating theatres as a Never Event.

Ms Nadine Dorries: There are no plans to classify surgical fires in operating theatres as Never Events.Never Events are defined as Serious Incidents that are wholly preventable because guidance or safety recommendations that provide strong systemic protective barriers are available at a national level and should have been implemented by all healthcare providers.Strong systemic protective barriers are defined as barriers that must be successful, reliable and comprehensive safeguards or remedies. There is currently no national guidance or safety recommendations that provides such safeguards to prevent surgical fires in operating theatres. These types of incidents cannot therefore be defined as a Never Event.

Visual Impairment

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) health and social care, (b) informal care, (c) quality of life, (d) lost productivity and (e) welfare administration costs of eye conditions.

Jo Churchill: The Department has made no such estimate.

Prescription Drugs: Safety

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s five-year strategy is for tackling medication errors and medication-related harms in the NHS.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Medication errors and medication-related harms in the National Health Service are included in the 10-year NHS Patient Safety Strategy, which was published in July 2019.Within this Strategy, the Medicines Safety Improvement Board is working to reduce medication errors and harms in the NHS, focusing on high risk drugs, situations and vulnerable patients. Work already underway includes the accelerated rollout of electronic prescribing in hospitals, monitoring higher risk prescribing practice linked to hospital admissions, and deploying more clinical pharmacists into primary care and care homes.

Visual Impairment

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of preventable blindness.

Jo Churchill: Prevention, early detection and access to timely treatment are all key to improving eye health and preventing avoidable blindness. The Government has well established programmes on reducing smoking and obesity, both long terms risk factors for vision loss.Free National Health Service sight tests, a vital eye health check, are available to all children, those aged 60 and over, individuals on low incomes or at increased risk of certain eye diseases. Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes which can lead to sight loss. The diabetic retinopathy screening programme continues to offer screening to those eligible.NHS England and NHS Improvement’s national outpatient transformation programme is also looking to improve secondary care ophthalmology outpatient services, to improve access to care and outcomes.

Bereavement Counselling and Maternity Services: Standards

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the variation in quality of maternity and bereavement services throughout the NHS.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme covers all maternity and neonatal services across England. The programme has been working with trusts to support frontline staff to create the conditions for continuous improvement, a safety culture and a national maternal and neonatal learning system to reduce unwarranted variation in outcomes and care experiences, and provide a high quality healthcare experience for all women, babies and families across maternity and neonatal care settings in England. The Government also funded Sands, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the roll-out of a National Bereavement Care Pathway to reduce the variation in the quality of bereavement care provided by the National Health Service.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of people who refuse to wear masks in public without legitimate reason when required to do so.

Jo Churchill: There is a growing body of evidence that shows high compliance by the public with the requirements to wear face coverings: the Office for National Statistics’ Opinions and Lifestyle Survey; YouGov (Face Coverings and Staff Survey); and the Department of Health and Social Care Coronavirus Health Behaviours and Campaigns Report, all show high levels of public understanding of the regulations and adherence to wearing face coverings in the relevant settings.While the majority of people comply with the rules, as they have done throughout the pandemic, the Regulations give powers to the police and Transport for London officers to enforce the requirement to wear a face covering. Fines are issued by enforcing officers as a last resort, so in many cases police engagement ends with the person either proceeding to wear a face covering or leaving the setting. Data published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council show that the police issued a total of 258 Fixed Penalty Notices between 15 June and 19 October for breaches of the Face Coverings Regulations across England and Wales.

Prescriptions: Mothers

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending maternity exemption certificates for people who have not been able to use them during the covid-19 lockdowns.

Jo Churchill: The Government has no current plans to extend the period of maternity exemption certificates during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cauda Equina Syndrome

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has provided to research into cauda equina syndrome in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including cauda equina syndrome. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Information on individual projects funded by the NIHR is available at the following link:https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/The NIHR has not funded any research specifically into cauda equina syndrome in the last five years. However, the NIHR funded over £270,000 between 2015/16 and 2019/20 on a research project which investigated chronic neurogenic bladder dysfunction, which can result from cauda equina syndrome.

Influenza: Vaccination

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including teachers as recipients of the free flu vaccination in winter 2020-21.

Jo Churchill: The flu vaccination is recommended for those in at risk groups, and frontline health and social care workers who have direct contact with patients, so they can protect themselves and the vulnerable people that they care for. This is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).Based on the JCVI’s advice, teachers, who are not in an at-risk group, are not eligible for a free flu vaccination. However, some teachers may have access to a free flu vaccine under their employers’ occupational health scheme.

Babies: Neurology

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support clinical research into infantile spasms.

Edward Argar: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including infantile spasms. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.Since November 2016, the NIHR has supported seven studies on infantile spasms.

Health: Children

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what methodology is Department uses to collect data on children’s qualitative well-being.

Jo Churchill: The Department commissioned NHS Digital to undertake a follow up survey on a representative sample of children and young people (now ages 5 to 22 years) recruited in 2017 to take part in the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England Survey, who agreed to be re-contacted. The analysis of this survey was published on 22 October and is one of the main sources of evidence on children’s qualitative wellbeing and is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2020-wave-1-follow-upMethods for how commissioners and other health professionals can measure, understand and improve the mental wellbeing of children and young people is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measuring-the-mental-wellbeing-of-children-and-young-peopleA toolkit to help measure subjective mental wellbeing amongst the student population is available at the following link:https://www.annafreud.org/schools-and-colleges/resources/mental-health-toolkit-for-schools/

Coronavirus: Mink

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what capacity the UK has to detect whether mink-related mutations of coronavirus have arrived in the UK.

Edward Argar: The COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium provides routine genomic sequencing of a proportion of United Kingdom cases and is monitoring this dataset for the presence of variants seen in mink in Denmark.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to collect data on equitable access to PrEP throughout England; what steps he is taking to ensure that all population groups benefit from PrEP; and when he plans to publish such data.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England, in collaboration with stakeholders, is currently developing a monitoring and evaluation framework for the routine commissioning of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This will use established surveillance systems and include measures of PrEP need and use among key population groups to inform equitable delivery and access. These data will be published in routine sexually transmitted infection and HIV surveillance outputs in 2021.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to make PrEP available in (a) primary care, (b) maternity care, (c) pharmacies and (d) other healthcare settings in addition to sexual health clinics.

Jo Churchill: The settings in which Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis should be made available outside of sexual health services will be considered as part of our upcoming work to develop the sexual and reproductive health strategy.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make the £16 million of funding initially announced for the PrEP roll-out in 2020-21 available in 2021-22 and subsequent years; and whether he plans to ring-fence that funding for the provision of access to PrEP.

Jo Churchill: Decisions on the future funding for pre-exposure prophylaxis will be a matter for the Spending Review and will be announced in due course.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on the roll-out of PrEP since funding was made available to local areas on the 2 October 2020.

Jo Churchill: Good progress is being made and routine commissioning of pre-exposure prophylaxis is already in place in some areas and many others will be ready to go live shortly. This is particularly welcome given the demands placed on both local government and sexual health services in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department and Public Health England continue to work closely with local authorities and other stakeholders to support the roll-out of routine commissioning. This includes a package of information and resources shared with local authorities in July.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether access to the PrEP drug is capped; and whether additional funds will be made available if demand for PrEP appointments exceeds the current ringfenced funding of sexual health clinics.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement will supply pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to sexual health services commissioned by local authorities. The Department has provided just over £11 million funding to local authorities to cover the costs of routine commissioning of PrEP for this year. We have also provided a package of materials to support local commissioning. There are no plans to allocate additional funding for PrEP in this financial year.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to recommend the wearing of visors for members of the public who cannot wear face masks during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: As the Government’s guidance makes clear, there are circumstances when people may be unable to wear a face covering. No one should be forced to wear a face covering if they are exempt or have a reasonable excuse for not doing so, nor should they be required to prove their exemption.By law, a face covering must adequately cover the nose and mouth. A visor may be worn in addition to a face covering but not instead, as they do not adequately cover the nose and mouth.A member of the public who is exempt or has a reasonable excuse not to wear a face covering has the discretion to wear a visor. However, as the evidence does not support the use of visors on their own as an effective way to prevent the spread of the virus, the Government does not recommend visors as an alternative to face coverings. The most important measures remain social distancing and good hand hygiene.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of wearing masks while singing for the reduction of transmission of covid-19.

Jo Churchill: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have produced guidance for different organisational sectors aimed at making their workplaces COVID-19-secure; this includes specific guidance for the performing arts, which is available at GOV.UK.When and where national and local restrictions permit the opening of theatres and concert halls, performers must wear a face covering at all times other than when in the course of their employment or in the course of providing their services, for example during rehearsals and performances. Members of the public in these venues must wear face coverings; as must staff in indoor areas where they are likely to come into contact with customers.The Government will keep the face covering regulations under review and will take further action if needed.

Protective Clothing: Public Transport

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice his Department is giving to local authorities on enforcing mask wearing on public transport.

Jo Churchill: Local authorities do not have an enforcing role when it comes to the wearing of face coverings by members of the public on public transport. This is a matter for the police and Transport for London officers, who may issue fixed penalty notices but will adopt their usual ‘four Es’ approach first: Explain, Engage, Encourage and Enforce.

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, whether the Government plans to introduce guidance for members of the public unable to wear face coverings.

Jo Churchill: Existing Government guidance recognises that some people may be either exempt or have a reasonable excuse for not wearing a face covering, and that they should not be challenged about this. The guidance also makes clear that social distancing and good hand hygiene remain fundamentally important in helping to reduce the spread of the virus. These aspects of the guidance apply to all people, including those who are not wearing a face covering.

NHS Trusts: Finance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the NHS Trusts that have been successful in securing seed funding for the further eight schemes in the Health Infrastructure Plan 2.

Edward Argar: The Government recently confirmed 40 hospitals will be built by 2030, and an open competition will be run to identify eight further new schemes, delivering on the Government’s commitment. The bid process for the remaining eight hospitals is currently being designed and details will be announced in due course. The list of successful trusts will be published once the competition process has concluded.

NHS: Finance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the financial sustainability of the NHS.

Edward Argar: The NHS Long Term Plan was backed by significant Government investment that would see funding rise to circa £33.9 billion per year by 2023-24. This gave the National Health Service the certainty they needed to deliver on the objectives of that plan, which included a financial regime that would see all organisations in the NHS return to financial balance by 2023/24. We had seen good progress in the first year of that plan, with around 50% fewer deficits reported in NHS trusts and foundation trusts in 2019-20.Into 2020/21, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been clear from the outset that the NHS will get whatever it needs to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The response to COVID-19 has included suspension of the usual financial framework and replaced with a temporary regime that reduced burdens on the NHS allowing for focus on the COVID-19 response. The approach has been supported by significant funding packages that include:- £31.9 billion for healthcare as set out in the summer Economic Update;- a further circa £16.4 billion announced in September including a £3 billion package to support increased winter capacity initiatives; and- a further £2.7 billion for NHS systems through the rest of the financial year.Planning has started on creating a 2021/22 financial regime that builds on 2020/21, with any funding in addition to the Long Term Plan settlement subject to the current Spending Review.

Lynfield Mount Hospital and Airedale Hospital: Capital Investment

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for capital expenditure at (a) Lynfield Mount in Bradford and (b) Airedale hospital.

Edward Argar: As part of the recently announced £1.5 billion capital investment in the National Health Service for 2020-21, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust will receive £224,000 to upgrade its accident and emergency department and £1.7 million to address backlog maintenance at Airedale General Hospital. Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust will receive £10,000 for maintenance at Lynfield Mount Hospital.Future NHS capital funding will be determined as part of the Department’s settlement at the upcoming Spending Review. Once our capital settlement has been confirmed with HM Treasury, we will consider carefully how future projects are prioritised within it. We recently confirmed funding for 40 hospitals, with a further eight schemes invited to bid for future funding to deliver 48 hospitals by 2030. A proportion will be mental health hospitals, and details on the bidding process will be released in due course.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for how long European Health Insurance Cards remain valid in respect of people travelling to an EU country before 31 December 2020 and who do not return before the end of the transition period.

Edward Argar: The Withdrawal Agreement protects United Kingdom and European Union nationals, including UK insured individuals, who find themselves in a ‘cross-border situation’ over 31 December 2020. For example, someone whose holiday begins before, but ended after, the 31 December 2020 would be covered. People in this situation will be able to continue to use their European Health Insurance Card to access ‘needs-arising treatment’ until they leave that country by travelling to another EU Member State or returning to the UK.

Members: Correspondence

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Minister for Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Patient Safety plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich of 21 August 2020 on his constituent’s difficulties in travelling to the Royal Marsden hospital.

Edward Argar: The Department replied to the hon Member’s letter on 18 November 2020.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many A&E attendances there have been for minor ailments in England in each month since January 2019.

Edward Argar: We do not hold information on accident and emergency attendances for minor ailments.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding in the forthcoming spending review for additional breast cancer screening in the context of delays to screening caused by the covid-19 outbreak.

Edward Argar: Funding decisions for the next financial year, including screening, are being considered as part of the ongoing Spending Review. The conclusion of the Spending Review will be announced on 25 November.

Joint Replacements: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people aged 15-25 have had a hip or knee replacement as a result of (a) obesity and (b) brittle-bones in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: The information is not held in the format requested.

Leader of the House

Members: Coronavirus

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Leader of the House, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of (a) restrictions on travel and (b) reductions in availability of public transport during the covid-19 outbreak on the ability of hon. Members to participate in debates; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: The Government guidance is clear that you should continue to travel for work where it is not possible to do so from home. It is the Government’s strong view that Parliament best serves the UK public when MPs are present in Westminster, carrying out their essential functions. We have ensured that Members who cannot be here for a range of reasons can vote by proxy and participate in interrogative proceedings. Members’ travel arrangements and public transport do not fall under the Leader of the House’s portfolio of responsibilities but all Members must wear face coverings where mandated on public transport and I would encourage all to follow the Government’s guidance on this and other measures such as social distancing.

Department for Education

Pre-school Education: Coronavirus

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2020 to Question 91680, what plans his Department has to supply private, voluntary and independent early years providers with covid-19 home testing kits.

Vicky Ford: Although the department does not supply private, voluntary, and independent early years providers with home tests, all essential workers continue to have access to priority testing via the online booking portal. This applies to all education and childcare workers, including those working in early years settings.Testing capacity is the highest it has ever been. The UK’s daily COVID-19 testing capacity passed the 500,000 mark on Saturday 31 October 2020, and testing capacity continues to expand to help meet demand over the winter period.

Further Education: Coronavirus

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing people who have lost their job during the covid-19 pandemic to access Further Education foundation courses at the start of the January 2021 term; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Keegan: We want to ensure that a wide range of opportunities are available to people of all ages to meet their future skills needs. We have introduced a number of additional measures this year to support that ambition, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.In April, we introduced the Skills Toolkit, an online platform which is already providing free courses to help individuals build the skills that are most sought after by employers. We have recently expanded the platform so that people can now choose from over 70 courses, covering digital, adult numeracy, employability and work readiness skills, which have been identified as the skills employers need the most. These courses will help people stay in work, or take up new jobs and opportunities.In July, the Plan for Jobs was announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which includes incentives for employers to take on new apprentices, including those over 25, and an additional £17 million to triple the number of sector-based work academy programme (SWAP) placements in 2020/21, enough funding to support an extra 40,000 job seekers with additional training opportunities and the chance of a job.In September, the Lifetime Skills Guarantee was announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister. It is aimed at adults, including those that have become unemployed, and measures include fully funding adults’ first full level 3 qualification and new digital bootcamps which will be available in 6 areas across the country from January. The bootcamp training courses will provide valuable skills based on employer demand and are linked to real job opportunities, helping participants to land jobs and employers to fill much-needed vacancies. We are planning to expand the bootcamps to more of the country from spring 2021 and we want to extend this model to include other technical skills training.These measures will be funded by the £2.5 billion investment (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations), for the National Skills Fund to help adults learn valuable skills and prepare for the economy of the future. The guarantee also includes a Lifelong Loan Entitlement to provide individuals with an entitlement to 4 years of loan funding to use over their lifetime.Anyone who becomes unemployed for whatever reason, is able to access a range of provision to meet their future skills needs, and funding for this will depend on age and prior attainment.Our funding rules allow for flexibility in course delivery and it is up to individual colleges to determine enrolment times for students accessing their provision.

Coronavirus Catch-up Premium

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium funding is ring-fenced by schools for the provision of catch-up support to pupils who have missed learning as a result of the covid-19 outbreak; and whether his Department is monitoring the use of that allocated funding.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the monetary value was of the first tranche of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium payments allocated by his Department to schools.

Nick Gibb: All students will have been impacted as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. We expect schools to spend this funding on the additional activities required to support children and young people to catch up after the period of disruption to their education. We know that each school will have different needs as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and schools should tailor the catch-up funding to their specific contexts, and towards the pupils who need it most. We trust our excellent school leaders to make the appropriate decisions for their students to ensure that this money is spent wisely.To help schools make the best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation has published a support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up and a school planning guide, available here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/#nav-covid-19-support-guide-for-schools1. Head teachers may use these documents and their strategic judgement to prioritise support for all pupils, guided by the level of individual need.The first payment represents 25% of the total allocation and was made to schools in the autumn term. This autumn payment for schools totals £159,011,640. A detailed breakdown of the amount given in the autumn payment can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-catch-up-premium-provisional-allocations.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to tackle educational disadvantage amongst white working class boys in (a) St Helens, (b) Merseyside and (c) England.

Nick Gibb: Educational achievement is at the heart of our commitment to ensure no young person is left behind because of the place or circumstances of their birth. Most pupils now attend Good or Outstanding schools. As of March 2020, 86% of schools are Good or Outstanding compared to just 68% in 2010.We are aware that pupils of all backgrounds have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and we are providing schools with the resources and tools to address lost education so that all pupils can catch up. Our £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up package is providing additional funding so that schools can support pupils who have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. As part of this, the £650 million universal Catch-Up Premium is enabling all schools to identify and prioritise support for pupils to address their needs. This complements the National Tutoring Programme which is targeting £350 million to accelerate the academic progress of disadvantaged pupils by making high quality tutors available to schools in all regions at a greatly reduced rate.Recognising that disadvantaged children may not have access to the resources they need to learn remotely, we have invested more than £195 million to support access to remote education and online social care. As part of this, we are making more than 340,000 laptops and tablets available this term to support disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 whose face-to-face education may be disrupted. This supplements more than 220,000 laptops and tablets and 50,000 4G wireless routers which were delivered during the summer term.English schools continue to receive the pupil premium, worth £2.4 billion again this financial year, to enable them to arrange extra personalised support for disadvantaged pupils of all abilities. This year, schools in St Helens are sharing £9.7 million provided through this grant, with schools in the five local authorities in Merseyside sharing £82.4 million.We founded the Education Endowment Foundation in 2011 to research and disseminate the most effective ways to improve disadvantaged pupil progress. So far, it has conducted 190 trials in 13,000 English schools leading to the publication of a comprehensive range of internationally recognised effective practice. The research shows schools effectively implementing the best evidence-based approaches can make a difference to every pupil’s future.

Remote Education: Coronavirus

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) procure and (b) deliver (i) laptops and (ii) other home internet access to disadvantaged students in a timely manner during the covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb: As part of over £195 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care, over half a million laptops and tablets are being made available this year to support disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 whose face-to-face education may be disrupted.Since September 2020, over 100,000 of these devices have already been delivered to schools. This supplements over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers, which have already been delivered during the summer term.The Department is also working with mobile network operators to provide temporary access to free additional data, offering families flexibility to access the resources that they need the most. As part of a pilot, disadvantaged families have been able to access a free mobile data uplift for this term.The Department is now working with mobile operators to provide a national service until the end of the 2020-21 academic year. We will continue to invite a range of mobile providers to support the offer.These laptops and tablets are the property of the trust, local authority or school, and so will benefit children’s education long after we come out of the measures required to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.More information on deliveries in this term can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/929064/Ad-hoc_stats_note_shipped_data_231020_FINAL.pdf.

Educational Institutions: Coronavirus

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, steps he is taking to improve understanding of the guidance on the use of personal protective equipment in (a) schools and (b) other educational settings.

Nick Gibb: COVID-19 related Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use is very limited for staff in education, childcare and children’s social care settings, and relates only to:when caring for a child or individual who develops symptoms while attending their setting (and only then if a distance of two metres cannot be maintained),when a child or individual already has routine intimate care needs that involve the use of PPE, for example when undertaking aerosol generating procedures.Further guidance on the use of PPE in education and childcare settings is available through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings-including-the-use-of-personal-protective-equipment-ppe.We continue to give schools and others in the education and childcare sectors information about our guidance, and any changes to it, through regular Departmental communications.

Music: Private Tutors

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether music lessons can take place in the teacher's home during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown restrictions in England.

Nick Gibb: As outlined in the guidance for education and childcare settings on new national restrictions from 5 November 2020, out of school activities such as private tuition may continue to operate during the period of national restrictions. Guidance on this is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-and-childcare-settings-new-national-restrictions-from-5-november-2020#ooss. Providers of these activities who are operating out of their own homes or private studios should ensure they are only being accessed for face to face provision by parents if their primary purpose is registered childcare. Other possible allowances are that they are providing other activities for children where it is reasonably necessary to enable parents to work or search for work, or to undertake training or education, or for the purposes of respite care. Out of school activities that are primarily used by home educating parents as part of their arrangements for their child to receive a suitable full time education (which could include, for example, private tutors) may also continue to operate for face to face provision for the duration of the national restrictions.Where online lessons are not reasonably possible, providers are permitted to offer face to face provision in pupils’ homes, where it is necessary for them to continue to work.Tutors that continue to operate face-to-face provision during this period should continue to undertake risk assessments and implement the system of controls set out in the following guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Providers operating out of other people’s homes should also implement the guidance on working safely in such an environment: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes.All other out of school activities, not being primarily used by parents for these purposes and that can offer remote education, should close for face to face provision for the duration of the national restrictions. This will minimise the amount of mixing between different groups of people and therefore reduce the risk of infection and transmission of the virus.

Schools: Coronavirus

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether parents who are shielding as a result of serious health problems are permitted to keep their children out of school.

Nick Gibb: Being in nursery, school and college is vital for the education of children and young people, and for their wellbeing. Time out of nursery, school and college is detrimental to the cognitive and academic development of children.Children and young people who live with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable, but who are not clinically extremely vulnerable themselves, should still attend education or childcare during this period of national restrictions.Education settings have implemented a range of protective measures recommended by the Public Health England endorsed guidance published by the Department for Education, which, when followed, create an inherently safer environment for pupils, staff and families. The guidance can be found through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#res.If parents or carers are anxious about their child attending education, the Department recommends that they discuss this with their school leadership, who will understand their concerns and provide reassurance regarding the protective measures that have been put in place to reduce the risk of transmission in educational settings.Where children are not able to attend school as they are following clinical or public health advice related to COVID-19, we expect schools to be able to immediately offer them access to remote education. Such absences will not be penalised.

Schools: Coronavirus

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on keeping schools open and functioning effectively of the performance of the test and trace system.

Nick Gibb: Keeping schools and colleges open is one of the Government’s highest priorities. Being at school is vital for the education of children, and for their wellbeing. Time spent out of school is detrimental to the cognitive and academic development of children, particularly for disadvantaged children. It continues to be the Department’s aim that all pupils, in all year groups, remain in school full-time.Those who have COVID-19 symptoms, or have someone in their household who does, must not attend school. All staff and students who are attending a school or college have access to a test if they display symptoms of COVID-19 and are encouraged to get tested. Guidance on how schools should respond to COVID-19 cases is available through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.Testing capacity is the highest it has ever been. The UK’s daily COVID-19 testing capacity passed the 500,000 mark on 31 October and continues to expand. In order to support schools further, the Department is also supplying COVID-19 test kits directly to them for both staff and students who develop the symptoms of COVID-19 and face significant barriers to accessing a test through existing routes.Schools are playing a vital role in supporting the test and trace system. Where someone who has attended tests positive for COVID-19, schools are taking swift action to send home close contacts of the positive case, advising them to self-isolate for 14 days since they were last in close contact with that person when they were infectious. There is a dedicated advice line to help schools, colleges or early years settings to implement the most appropriate public health measures once a case is confirmed. If, following triage, further expert advice is required, the adviser will escalate the school’s call to the Public Health England local health protection team.The Government is committed to introducing mass asymptomatic testing using new technologies to minimise the risk of infection spread in our communities, and pilots are already underway for using them in schools and colleges. Establishing this testing capability will enable students to continue their studies safely, and ensure staff are able to continue to deliver education and support.

Department for Education: Marketing

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department has spent on (a) communications, (b) advertising and (c) marketing since 1 March 2020.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department has spent on (a) consultancy services including (i) communications, (ii) advertising, (iii) marketing and (iv) media buying since 1 March 2020.

Nick Gibb: From 1 March to 20 November 2020, the Department spent £13.3 million on paid-for communications and campaigns activity, including spend on creative, production, agency fees and paid-for media. Of this, a total of £8.42 million was spent specifically on advertising media buying. It is not possible to break down spend separately by i) communications or iii) marketing as these definitions include several areas of overlapping activity.Of the £13.3 million spent between 1 March and 20 November 2020, an estimated £526,924 was spent on consultancy services to help plan and deliver communication, advertising, marketing campaigns and to inform media buying. It is not possible to provide separate costs for each category requested as these services inform a range of activity delivered as part of broader campaign strategies.This activity includes vital work to recruit 30,000 teachers a year and drive the uptake of apprenticeships and the new T level qualification. All our paid-for campaigns are agreed with and regularly assessed by the Cabinet Office to ensure effectiveness.The Department’s work covers a number of manifesto commitments and is central to my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s levelling up agenda, in addition to the Government's response to the COVID-19 outbreak including the continuity of education as a national priority. With almost a million staff working in state funded schools in England, 66,000 staff in the further education sector, and 4.2 million households across the country with primary school aged children, the Department must explain policy to our key audiences, influence attitudes and change behaviour through targeted external communications, advertising and marketing campaigns to achieve publicly stated policy objectives.

Remote Education: Coronavirus

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many digital devices tailored to children with special educational needs and disabilities his Department has distributed for remote learning since March 2020.

Nick Gibb: The Department has invested over £195 million to support remote education and access to online social care. This includes delivering over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers during the summer term. The Department is adding to this support by making over 340,000 additional laptops and tablets available this term to support disadvantaged children in Year 3 to 11 whose face to face education may be disrupted. Disadvantaged children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are included within this offer.All local authority maintained schools and academy trusts that are required to close can apply for laptops and tablets which they can lend to children in Years 3 to 11.The Department has also invested a total of £37.3 million in the Family Fund to support over 75,000 families on low incomes raising children with disabilities or serious illnesses. This includes £10 million to specifically address needs arising from the outbreak of COVID-19.The Department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. This includes specialist content for pupils with SEND.

Schools: Coronavirus

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to provide additional financial resources to schools to help cover new costs associated with the covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb: Getting all children and young people back into school for the new academic year has been a national priority. To support schools with this, they have continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in the 2020-21 financial year, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20. On average, schools are attracting 4.2% more per pupil in 2020-21, compared to 2019-20. As stated in our guidance, schools should use these existing resources when making arrangements for this term. The full guidance on the reopening of schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.Schools have also been able to claim additional funding for exceptional costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak between March and July 2020, such as additional cleaning required due to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, and increased premises costs to keep schools open for priority groups during the Easter and summer half-term holidays. The guidance about claiming additional funding for exceptional costs associated with COVID-19 is available through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020.

Training: Coronavirus

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2020 to Question 110928 on Union Learning Fund: Coronavirus, what additional steps his Department is taking to support adults who (a) need to reskill because of the covid-19 outbreak and (b) do not have have essential qualifications.

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the economic merits of the Union Learning Fund.

Gillian Keegan: The department wants to ensure that a wide range of opportunities are available to people of all ages to meet their future skills needs.We are continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), worth £1.34 billion in the 2020/21 financial year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship, or further learning. This includes; full funding for learners who need English and maths skills to undertake a range of courses in GCSEs; functional skills and other relevant qualifications from entry level to level 2; and support through courses and qualifications at pre-entry, entry level 1 to 3, level 1 and level 2 for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).More information about the AEB is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-education-budget-aeb-funding-rules-2019-to-2020.The department has also introduced a number of additional measures this year as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, such as through the Plan for Jobs announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2020, and the Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in September. More information about the Plan for Jobs is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/a-plan-for-jobs-2020.The Lifetime Skills Guarantee is aimed at eligible adults, including those that have become unemployed. As part of this, adults who do not currently have a level 3 qualification will be fully funded for their first full level 3 course, enabling participants to access the valuable courses that will help them get ahead in the labour market. This offer will be funded from the National Skills Funding, established to help people learn new skills and prepare for the economy of the future. More information about the National Skills Funding, and other measures to help prepare adults for the economy of the future, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-expansion-of-post-18-education-and-training-to-level-up-and-prepare-workers-for-post-covid-economy.My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, has also announced skills bootcamps, which will be available in 6 areas across the country. The bootcamp training courses will provide valuable skills based on employer demand and are linked to real job opportunities, helping participants to get jobs, and employers to fill much-needed vacancies. We are planning to expand the bootcamps to more of the country from spring 2021, and we want to extend this model to include other technical skills training.In addition, the recent expansion of The Skills Toolkit means that people can now choose from over 70 courses, covering digital, adult numeracy, employability and work readiness skills, which have been identified as the skills employers need the most. These courses will help people stay in work or take up new jobs and opportunities.Through our lifelong loan entitlement, we will also make it easier for adults and young people to study more flexibly. This will allow them to space out their studies across their lifetime, transfer credits between colleges and universities, and enable more part-time study.Apprenticeship opportunities will also be increased, with more funding for small and medium sized enterprises taking on apprentices, and greater flexibility in how their training is structured.My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, regularly meets with the Chancellor of the Exchequer but has not done so specifically to discuss the Union Learning Fund.

Schools: Coronavirus

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2020 to Question 76046 and the Answer of 8 October 2020 to Question 98997, what recent discussions he has had with school leaders on providing financial support for expenses incurred during the covid-19 outbreak on (a) additional cleaning, (b) signage, (c) supply staff and (d) other anticipated extra costs that are likely to have been incurred since September 2020.

Nick Gibb: Ministers and officials continue to engage regularly with school leaders and their representatives on a wide range of issues around COVID-19, including discussions in relation to costs faced by schools at this time.Getting all children and young people back into school for the new academic year has been a national priority. To support schools with this, they have continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in the 2020-21 financial year, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20. As stated in our guidance, schools should use these existing resources when making arrangements for this term. The full guidance on the reopening of schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Pupils: Sanitary Protection

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2020 to Question 113060, if he will disaggregate the take-up rate of the period products programme by (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) colleges.

Vicky Ford: As previously answered in question 113060, on 20 January 2020, the department launched a new scheme which makes free period products available for state-funded primary schools, secondary schools and colleges, in England.Our delivery partner, phs Group, reported in August, that since the scheme launched, almost 40% of eligible organisations have placed orders for period products and we are continuing to monitor the scheme closely.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to provide maintained nursery schools with a long-term funding solution based on up-to-date assessments of need.

Vicky Ford: Maintained nursery schools are an important part of the early years sector and provide valuable services, especially in disadvantaged areas. The government announced on 24 August that up to £23 million of supplementary funding will be provided to local authorities, to enable them to continue protecting the funding of maintained nursery schools during the summer term in 2021. This provides maintained nursery schools with certainty about funding for the 2020/21 academic year.What happens after the 2020/21 academic year will be determined by the Spending Review, in the context of our priorities across early years as a whole.This government remains committed to the long-term funding of maintained nursery schools, and any reform to the way they are funded will be accompanied by appropriate funding protections.

Further Education: Finance

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average programme funding per student is for 16 to 19 year olds studying a (a) T-level and (b) non-T-level study programme on a full-time basis in the 2020-21 academic year.

Gillian Keegan: The base funding rate for a full time student (band 5) on a non T level study programme is £4,188 in the current academic year.For this academic year, the first three T levels are funded in the medium T level band (band 7), which attracts a base funding rate of £5,061 per student, per year. T level students attract a higher funding rate as T levels include more teaching hours. In addition, industry placements are a compulsory element of T levels, which we are funding at £275 per student, for each of the two years of the T level.The overall average funding per student will be determined by the national 16-19 funding formula and will reflect the characteristics of the students, courses, and institutions.

Further Education: Admissions

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students are studying a (a) T-level and (b) non-T-level study programme on a full-time basis in the 2020-21 academic year.

Gillian Keegan: Figures showing numbers of students aged 16-18 participating in T levels and other study programmes (at end 2020), will be published in the June 2021 release 'Participation in Education, Training and Employment 2020'.44 providers are now teaching the first three T levels. We have been monitoring T level recruitment closely and are confident that a viable cohort of young people will benefit from taking these new, high quality qualifications, leaving them in a great position to move into skilled employment or further training.

Children: Social Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential rise in the level of demand for children’s services over the Christmas 2020 period.

Vicky Ford: The department has been working closely with local authorities to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children’s services, including any increases in demand, setting up dedicated regional teams that are in frequent contact.We are monitoring referrals to children’s services via our regional teams and the Vulnerable Children and Young People survey, which collects data fortnightly from local authorities in England. The latest release is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vulnerable-children-and-young-people-survey.Referrals to children’s social care services data do not show spikes in referrals in December in previous years. The data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-children-in-need.The government has provided £4.6 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19 related pressures, including in children’s services, and we will continue to work closely with local authorities and monitor demand over the Christmas 2020 period.

Education: Hearing Impairment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that deaf children are able to be taught in environments which require the wearing of facemasks.

Vicky Ford: The government continues to prioritise the wellbeing and long-term future of our children and young people and early years settings, schools, colleges and universities remain open.Some individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings. This includes children and young people who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness, impairment, or disability and people who are speaking, or providing assistance, to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expression to communicate. These exemptions apply in education settings and may be particularly relevant to children and young people with hearing impairments.We have published guidance on face coverings in education settings, which was updated on 5 November 2020. It includes that face coverings could have a negative impact on teaching and their use in the classroom should currently be avoided. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-in-education/face-coverings-in-education.

Babies: Health Services

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether baby massage groups are exempt from the November 2020 covid-19 restrictions; and if his Department will publish guidance on that matter.

Vicky Ford: Baby massage groups need to meet necessary exceptions to continue during the COVID-19 November 2020 national restrictions.Where these are held in Ofsted registered settings, they should follow government guidance on the COVID-19 outbreak for early years and childcare providers. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.Support groups for new parents in community settings, such as places of worship, community centres or halls, or libraries, and that are essential to deliver in person, can continue. These can be conducted with up to 15 participants where formally organised to provide mutual aid, therapy, or any other form of support. These groups must be organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic institution, or a public body, and must follow COVID-19 secure guidance. Restricted businesses which are required to close, such as coffee shops, cannot hold support groups. When national restrictions apply, in determining the limit of 15 participants, no account is to be taken of any child who is below the age of 5.Informal groups, such as those organised by a parent, need to comply with the gathering and household mixing rules. In practice, during the period of national restrictions, this means these groups should only meet virtually.Supervised activity for children can continue to take place where it is reasonably necessary to enable parents to work, search for work or to undertake training or education, for example in indoor gyms, fitness studios, indoor sports facilities and other indoor leisure centres, community centres or halls.

Free School Meals: Immigrants

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to end the temporary extension of free school meals eligibility to no recourse to public funds groups.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children the Government has supported through the temporary extension of free school meals eligibility to no recourse to public funds groups.

Vicky Ford: We are working with departments across government to evaluate access to free school meals for families with no recourse to public funds. In the meantime, the extension of eligibility will continue with the current income threshold until a decision on long-term eligibility is made.At present, data is not available regarding the take up of free school meals by no recourse to public funds groups during the temporary extension.

Ministry of Justice

Probate

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the average time being taken for Grants of Probate to be issued; what plans he has to reduce that length of time (a) during the covid-19 outbreak and (b) permanently; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what facilities exist for solicitors, practitioners and members of the public to obtain answers to their emails and telephone queries seeking information or progress updates from the Probate Service during the covid-19 outbreak; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Probate Service in responding those inquiries; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Philp: The most recently published information regarding waiting times for a grant of probate covers April 2020 to June 2020 and is published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 26).HMCTS increased resources in Spring 2020 in readiness of a potential increase in demand and waiting times have continued to improve despite the impact of Covid 19. As of March 2020, all calls are now answered by the Courts & Tribunals Service Centres, which are equipped with modern technology to monitor performance levels and make improvements to the service being offered. The service can be contacted Monday to Thursday, 8am to 5pm or Friday, 8am to 4pm via:webchat available at https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/apply-for-probatevia telephone on 0300 303 0648via email at contactprobate@justice.gov.uk For professional users, real time information about the progress of digital cases can be obtained via the online Probate service without the need to contact HMCTS. The average wait for people telephoning the national Courts and Tribunal Service centre with queries relating to Probate between April 2019 to March 2020 was 2 minutes 21 seconds. Volumes and waiting times for calls and emails have risen since March 2020, peaking at an average of 19 minutes in July 2020 but they are steadily improving, reducing to an average of 13 minutes in October 2020 and resources are being increased to meet the increased demand.

Special Educational Needs: Appeals

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents in each local authority area have taken Local Education Authorities (LEA) to appeal at a tribunal against an Education, Care and Health Plan decision in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those appeals were determined in favour of the (a) parents and (b) LEA.

Chris Philp: Due to the volume of data required to answer the question in respect of appeals against special education needs decisions made by local authorities, the information is attached as an annex to this answer.Annex (xls, 168.0KB)

Low Newton Prison

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many women were known to be pregnant while on remand or serving a sentence in HMP Low Newton in each quarter from 31 March 2015 to 30 September 2020, by ethnicity.

Lucy Frazer: Pregnancy data is collected locally by individual prisons, to ensure the appropriate support can be provided to women in our care. Currently, there is no central collection of this data. HMP Low Newton are in the process of collating the information requested and, as soon as that is available, I will write to the Honourable Member.On 31 July we published a summary report of our review of operational policy on pregnancy and women separated from children under 2. This includes an undertaking to extend the range of data we publish in relation to pregnant women in prison, and can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905559/summary-report-of-review-of-policy-on-mbu.pdf

Prisons: Coronavirus

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release of 4 November2020, Coronavirus preparedness in prisons, whether classroom-based education is permitted in the adult estate under the new guidance; and if he will make a statement.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's guidance, COVID-19: National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services, which prisons are permitted to run classroom-based education while operating under Exceptional Delivery Model level 3; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: Our priority is to limit the spread of the virus and to protect the lives of those who live and work in our prisons. Throughout the pandemic we have acted on public health advice, and we will continue to do so. The nature of prisons as closed environments and the demographics of the prison population pose particular challenges in managing the risk of outbreaks and heightened transmission. As a result, classroom-based education provision is currently not available across the adult prison estate. We have, though, been working with all Prison Education Framework (PEF) and Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) providers in England to support prisons, which has allowed learning to continue via in cell activity, distraction material and learning packs.The Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) directs staff responsible for education, provider staff, key workers and prison staff, such as the Learning and Skills Managers, to engage with learners. The EDM structure is in place to take a risk-based approach to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections being introduced and spread. Under the EDM guidance, provider staff are able to access wings with the aim of enabling in cell learning and facilitating one to one activities. This includes the pick up and drop off of in cell learning packs and also completion of learner enrolment.Within the Youth Secure Estate the delivery of education remains a particular priority as we seek to mirror the position taken for vulnerable children in the community, where it is possible to do so. It is our desire to continue to provide ‘face to face’ classroom-based education, notwithstanding local variations and the impact of potential outbreaks amongst staff or children.We recognise the impact restrictions brought in to control the spread of infection have on services in prisons and that these restrictions must be proportionate to the risk posed. We will continue to keep them under active review. Our plan for easing restrictions in prisons, or re-introducing them where necessary, continues to be guided by public health advice alongside an operational assessment of what can be safely implemented, ensuring that we can keep staff and prisoners safe.

Prisoners' Release: Housing

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) young adult, (b) other female and (c) other male prison leavers were released without an address to go to in (i) each region of England and (ii) Wales from 1 September 2020 to 30 September 2020.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) young adult, (b) other female and (c) other male prison leavers were released without an address to go to in (i) each region of England and (ii) Wales from 1 October 2020 to 31 October 2020.

Lucy Frazer: Given the uncertainty around early releases from prison and other factors during the first Covid peak, and the public interest in this area at that time, my officials collated and published some data on accommodation on release ahead of the official statistics publication schedule. We are now reverting back to publishing this data in a more orderly and transparent way in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, which allows sufficient time for analysts to fully assure and quality check the data. Future statistics on accommodation on release from custody will be published in due course, in line with the official statistics publication schedule.We recognise that accommodation is a key priority as it is often the first step in an individual’s resettlement journey. We continue to work with councils and charities to secure suitable accommodation, while investigating long-term solutions to prevent homelessness and help offenders turn their backs on crime.

Prisons: Coronavirus

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s publication, HM Prison and Probation Service COVID-19 Official Statistics Data to 31 October 2020, published on 13 November 2020, when he expects HMPPS to meet the target headroom of 5,500 across the prison estate in England and Wales.

Lucy Frazer: In March, HMPPS implemented a ‘compartmentalisation’ strategy to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. As of 16 November, 100% of prisons have implemented this strategy, and the latest public health advice suggests these measures have limited the spread of the virus and minimised the number of deaths.Using modelling from Public Health England, HMPPS estimated that creating a headroom across the prison estate of 5,500 (5,000 in the adult male estate) would allow all prisons to fully implement this strategy. The required headroom has been achieved through a combination of reductions in operational capacity, new prison accommodation (which has enabled prisons to hold an increased number of prisoners in single cell accommodation), releases from prison, and reduced receptions into prison.

Prisons: Coronavirus

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons in England and Wales have implemented stage 4 regimes as a result of (a) staffing constraints and (b) severe outbreaks since the autumn 2020 covid-19 restrictions were introduced in (i) Wales and (ii) England.

Lucy Frazer: Our priority is to limit the spread of the virus and to protect the lives of those who live and work in our prisons. Throughout the pandemic we have acted on public health advice, and we will continue to do so. On 2 June we published the National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services, setting out how we will operate whilst responding to COVID-19. It sets out different Stages of regime delivery, and is clear that we will tailor our activity to the local risk level. This will vary between different prisons and over time, according to their local circumstances. Since the Autumn, seven prisons have needed to operate at Stage 4 at some point. In all of these cases, this has been as part of the response to an outbreak at the site. As of 18th November, four establishments are currently operating at Stage 4.

Prisons: Coronavirus

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Coronavirus preparedness in prisons, published on 6 November 2020, how many prisons in England and Wales have implemented routine testing of frontline staff and prisoners who arrive from court or transfer from other jails.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Coronavirus preparedness in prisons, published on 6 November 2020, what the planned timescale is for every prison in England and Wales to implement routine testing of frontline staff and prisoners who arrive from court or transfer from other jails.

Lucy Frazer: Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has been working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS, and health authority colleagues in England and Wales for a number of months on providing access to Covid-19 tests in a prison environment. Reception and transfer testing for prisoners is now in place in 23 prisons in England and two in Wales. Further sites are in the process of rolling this out, and we intend to have all prisons implementing this testing by the end of the year. We have also started regular testing of frontline staff, which is taking place in 50 establishments. This will be rolled out across all prisons in England and Wales by the end of the month. Both directly employed and non-directly employed staff who work with prisoners on a weekly basis are eligible for this testing.

Prisons: Coronavirus

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Coronavirus preparedness in prisons, published on 6 November 2020, if he will publish details of the changes to make more personal protective equipment available to staff who come into close contact with offenders.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Coronavirus preparedness in prisons, published on 6 November 2020, when the changes to make more personal protective equipment available to staff who come into close contact with offenders were implemented.

Lucy Frazer: Throughout the pandemic we have made protective equipment available to staff in line with task-specific risk assessments and public health advice. In addition to task-specific use of PPE, we have increased the availability of face masks to staff to wear as an additional protective measure within prisons. Those measures were implemented last month, mirroring similar changes in public health settings. Our face mask strategy for staff sets out when face masks must be worn in HMPPS settings, in line with public health advice. There is sufficient supply of PPE and face coverings in place to meet forecast demand. We are keeping this under constant review as we move through each phase of managing the pandemic. These measures sit alongside all the actions we are taking to collectively contribute to preventing the spread of coronavirus and to protect staff, residents and the public.

Prisons: Education

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the ability of prison education providers to fulfil Prison Education Framework contractual requirements during the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2020 to Question 98913 on Prisons: Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of changes made to staffing complements by Prison Education Framework providers.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2020 to Question 98913 on Prisons: Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the levels of service delivered by Prison Education Framework providers.

Lucy Frazer: Since the introduction of restrictions due to Covid-19 we have been working with all Prison Education Framework (PEF) and Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) providers to support prisons. This has allowed us to enable learning to continue via in cell activity, distraction material and learning packs. PEF providers are submitting revised curriculum plans, in consultation with each establishment, to ensure delivery of their services during this difficult time and to meet the needs of their learners. As previously stated, all PEF providers are contracted to provide a service and, so long as they provide this, the staffing of the service and the PEF providers’ management of their staff is a matter for them and not the MoJ. All PEF provider delivery and performance is regularly monitored via monthly and quarterly management meetings. Any variation of service delivery, for whatever reason, will be challenged at all levels via these meetings.

Treasury

Directors: Coronavirus

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the cost to the public purse of allowing limited company directors to claim support from the (a) Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and (b) coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for relevant shares of their income.

Jesse Norman: The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include company owner-managers in the original Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, namely the inability of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to verify the source of their dividend income without introducing unacceptable levels of fraud risk, still remain. Dividends are therefore not covered by the SEISS Grant Extension. It is important to secure the SEISS Grant Extension against fraud risk and misuse. Those who pay themselves a salary through their own company may be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The CJRS is available to employers, including personal service companies, and individuals paying themselves a salary through a PAYE scheme are eligible.

Self-employment Income Support Scheme: Directors

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of asking limited company directors for further analysis of the dividend from UK Companies declared in the director’s personal tax return, as a means of confirming proof of employment income and thereby increasing access to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Jesse Norman: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer to UIN 55002 answered on 9 June 2020.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: Directors

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made on the long term viability of small limited companies of requiring limited company directors to furlough themselves in order to receive support from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Jesse Norman: The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was set to close on 31 October 2020 but, in light of the path of the virus, the CJRS has now been extended until the end of March 2021. Those who pay themselves a salary through their own company may be eligible for the CJRS. The CJRS is available to employers, including personal service companies, and individuals paying themselves a salary through a PAYE scheme are eligible. Employers can use a portal to claim for 80 per cent of the usual monthly wage costs of furloughed employees (employees on a leave of absence) up to £2,500 a month. Where furloughed directors need to carry out particular duties to fulfil their statutory obligations, they may do so provided it is no more than would reasonably be judged necessary for that purpose. In particular, they should not do work of a kind they would carry out in normal circumstances to generate commercial revenue or provide services to or on behalf of their company. ?This also applies to companies with a sole director. The Chancellor has always been clear that the Government would keep the situation under review, adapting its approach as the context evolved. In January, it will review the policy, including to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more. This scheme supplements the other significant support announced for UK businesses, including the Bounce Back Loan Scheme for small businesses, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the deferral of tax payments.

Directors: Coronavirus

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward a dedicated coronavirus income support scheme for limited company directors that fall outside his Department's definitions of what constitutes self-employed, an employed individual or an employer.

Jesse Norman: The Government has acknowledged that it has not been possible to support everyone as they might want. The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include company owner-managers in the original Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), namely the inability of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to verify the source of their dividend income without introducing unacceptable levels of fraud risk, still remain. This issue also remains when considering an alternative scheme specifically for limited company directors. As with the previous SEISS grants, it is not possible for HMRC to distinguish between dividends derived from an individual’s own company and dividends from other sources, and between dividends in lieu of employment income and as returns from other corporate activity. Company directors who pay themselves a salary through a PAYE scheme are able to apply for CJRS support, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria of the scheme. In addition, company directors may be eligible for other elements of the package of financial support available. This includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, increased levels of Universal Credit, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.

Foreign Companies: VAT

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance he has issued to overseas sellers who need to register for UK VAT by 1 January 2021 for under £135 goods sold to UK consumers.

Jesse Norman: HMRC published guidance on 20 July 2020 setting out information on the proposed changes for overseas sellers and online marketplaces.

Self-employment Income Support Scheme

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to carry out an impact assessment of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of that scheme in providing support for people who are self-employed or freelancers; and whether he plans to review the eligibility criteria for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Jesse Norman: On 22 October, HM Treasury and HMRC announced that the Government will carry out an evaluation of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). This will be undertaken through 2021 and 2022. This is because self-employment data necessary to carry out a full SEISS evaluation will not be available until 2022, upon receipt of Self-Assessment returns. The SEISS has provided, and will continue to provide, valuable support to the self-employed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with claims from more than 2.7 million individuals under the first two grants totalling £13.7 billion. The Government has announced that the SEISS Grant Extension will be available to self-employed individuals who were previously eligible for SEISS 1 and 2, even if they did not in fact claim the grant; who intend to continue to trade; and who are, due to COVID-19, either currently trading and affected by reduced demand, or temporarily unable to carry out their business. This will ensure that support is targeted at those who most need it. There will also be a fourth grant covering February to April 2021. Further details, including the level of the fourth grant, will be set out in due course. The Government has acknowledged that it has not been possible to support everyone as they might want. Those ineligible for the SEISS may still be eligible for other elements of the unprecedented financial support available. This includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.

UK Relations with EU

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contingency plans he has with respect to the UK's future relationship with the EU in the event of a UK-based companies experiencing tax and trading difficulties after the transition period.

Jesse Norman: The Government has provided extensive guidance to traders to support them in their preparations for the end of the transition period, including publishing the detailed Border Operating Model to help traders take the necessary steps. The Government continues to work closely with industry to ensure they are engaging with the new requirements and can take the necessary steps to prepare, including through the latest public information campaign, cross-Government industry steering groups, webinars and events. The Government will continue to engage with industry beyond the end of transition period to understand any concerns and identify any further support required.

Directors: Taxation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax has been paid to HMRC by limited company directors in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: An estimate of the tax paid by limited company directors in each of the last five years is not available. HMRC hold data on limited company directors but to provide information on all tax paid for this group for five years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. HMRC publish statistics on the total amount of income tax liable by individuals based on the Survey of Personal Incomes: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/income-tax-statistics-and-distributions HMRC also publish Summary information of total income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) receipts:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk

Energy: Research

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of incorporating the recommendations from the Energy Research Accelerator's Spending Review submission into his forthcoming Spending Review.

Kemi Badenoch: The Government recognises the importance of Research and Development in reducing the costs of decarbonisation and meeting our Net Zero goal and I appreciate the work that the Energy Research Accelerator has been undertaking across the Midlands in this critical space. We have significantly increased our investment on energy innovation, and the Prime Minister recently reiterated our Budget pledge to at least double the size of the Energy Innovation Programme in a new Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. HM Treasury is considering all contributions as evidence to inform the upcoming Spending Review, which will be set out on 25 November.

Business: Coronavirus

Alex Sobel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2020 to Question 91922, what the ambitious conditions on climate change and Net Zero targets are which companies are expected to commit to in order to receive support as a Last Resort Business Intervention.

Kemi Badenoch: Companies receiving support need to agree to appropriate conditions, including those relating to tax, supplier payment terms, climate change and corporate governance. Each company will be considered individually and there is no guarantee that support will be provided. As with any agreement, commercial and policy conditions are monitored using a variety of appropriate mechanisms.

Business: Coronavirus

Alex Sobel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2020 to Question 91922, which company was the first to receive Last Resort Business Intervention support.

Kemi Badenoch: As confirmed at the Summer Economic Update, the government has announced support for one firm, Celsa Steel (UK) Ltd, to enable the company to continue trading. The details of that loan were announced on 2 July 2020 in the BEIS SoS WMS (HCWS332). Any future companies will be considered on a case by case basis and will be expected to agree to appropriate conditions. As with any agreement, commercial and policy conditions are monitored using a variety of appropriate mechanisms.

Wholesale Trade: Coronavirus

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors on wholesaler’s eligibility for Business Rates Relief.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he intends to meet with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors to discuss the effect of covid-19 on wholesalers.

Jesse Norman: The Government has been in contact with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors. The Government has provided Local Authorities with £1.1 billion across England via the Additional Restrictions Grant, for businesses which are not legally closed, but which are nonetheless severely affected by local or national restrictions. Local Authorities have discretion on how to use this funding to support businesses in their areas, but the Government encourages them to set up discretionary grant schemes to support businesses such as wholesalers which can remain open, but which are nonetheless severely affected by the enhanced COVID-19 restrictions.There are currently no plans to change the scope of existing business rates relief. HM Treasury is conducting a fundamental review of the business rates system and will consider any future reliefs through that process.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Construction

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has allocated to support the delivery new homes in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last 10 years.

Christopher Pincher: This Government is committed to delivering homes where they are most needed. We have delivered over 1.5 million new homes between 2010 and 2019, including over 450,000 affordable homes, and delivered over 241,000 additional homes in the latest year – the highest level in over 30 years. Over the last ten years, approximately £157 million has been spent to support the delivery of new homes in Coventry, while over £2.4 billion has been spent in the West Midlands over the same period. £44 billion of new financial support since 2018 (over 5 years) will deliver 300,000 homes every year by the mid-2020s. Further details on country and regional spend can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis .

Housing: Insulation

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a shortage of surveyors competent to undertake EWS1 assessments on the ability of mortgage providers to make timely lending decisions.

Christopher Pincher: The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) designed the EWS1 process in conjunction with mortgage lenders to assist with valuation of high-rise residential buildings. Some lenders are asking for information that they do not need, and are requesting EWS1 forms for a greater range of buildings than the process was designed for. The EWS1 process is not a Government regulatory requirement and the Government does not support the blanket use of EWS1, especially for lower rise blocks.The Department is aware that there are capacity challenges with the availability of professionals to undertake fire safety assessments of external wall systems. We are working with professional bodies to increase the number of skilled professionals who can undertake external wall assessments where one is required.

Housing: Insulation

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will (a) bring forward legislative proposals to provide financial support to assist private leaseholders in complying with their legal obligations to remove and replace unsafe external cladding and (b) review the adequacy of free legal advice available to leaseholders in understanding their rights and obligations in relation to fire safety.

Christopher Pincher: It is the responsibility of the building owner, whether freeholder or commonholder, to ensure their building is safe. This includes ensuring that there is an up-to-date fire risk assessment. The Department has made £1.6 billion available to support the remediation of unsafe cladding, and a large proportion of this will protect leaseholders from these costs and will deal with some of the highest risk and highest cost safety defects on high-rise buildings. The Department continues to work with, and has provided additional funding to, the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) to ensure that leaseholders are aware of their rights and are supported to understand the terms of their leases.

Buildings: Disability

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to make parts (a) M4(2) and (b) M4(3) of building regulations mandatory.

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the additional cost of building a home compliant with parts M4(2) and M4(3) of the building regulations.

Christopher Pincher: We are consulting at present on options to raise accessibility standards in new homes, including options for making M4(2) for accessible and adaptable dwellings a mandatory standard. Our consultation also asks for views on either fixed or evidenced proportions of M4(3) wheelchair user dwellings. The Government will respond to this open consultation in due course, and evidence submitted in response will inform an assessment of the costs and benefits of building homes to M4(2) and M4(3) standards.

Building Safety Fund: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the deadline to submit a full-cost funding application to the Building Safety Fund in response to the disruption caused by the new national covid-19 lockdown restrictions in operation since 5 November 2020.

Christopher Pincher: The timelines for the Building Fund, set out in the prospectus, are intended to incentivise building owners to demonstrate pace of progression with their remediation plans for unsafe buildings. We will keep timelines under review as we continue through the application process. In addition to remediation funding, we are also providing technical and pre-tender support for applicants.

Buildings: Insulation

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans for the Government to act as insurer of last resort for professional indemnity insurance in respect of surveyors who are inspecting buildings in connection with the completion of EWS1 certificates.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is aware that some construction professionals, and fire safety professionals in particular, are struggling to obtain appropriate professional indemnity insurance (PII). The Minister for Fire and Building Safety has held roundtables with representatives from the insurance industry to investigate solutions that could improve the availability of PII for key professionals and their work to make buildings safe.

Building Safety Fund

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Building Safety Fund for the remediation of non-ACM cladding systems, whether he plans to extend the deadline of 31 December 2020 for the submission of  full cost funding applications, including a construction tender price.

Christopher Pincher: The Building Safety Prospectus, published in May, clearly sets out the timelines for the Building Fund which are intended to incentivise building owners to demonstrate pace of progression with their remediation plans for unsafe buildings. However, MHCLG has since publicly committed to keeping these timeframes under review as we continue through the application process. In addition to remediation funding, we are also providing technical and pre-tender support for applicants.

Building Safety Fund

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Building Safety Fund for the remediation of non-ACM cladding systems, what estimate he has made of the proportion of those applicants who applied for registration with that Fund by the 31 July who are able to meet the deadline of 31 December 2020 for the submission of full cost funding applications, including a construction tender price.

Christopher Pincher: The timelines for the Building Fund, set out in the prospectus, are intended to incentivise building owners to demonstrate pace of progression with their remediation plans for unsafe buildings. We will keep timelines under review as we continue through the application process. In addition to remediation funding, we are also providing technical and pre-tender support for applicants.

Building Safety Fund

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Building Safety Fund for the remediation of non-ACM cladding systems, how many expressions of interest were received by the 31 July 2020; how many of those expressions of interest have to date been assessed for technical eligibility and (a) been accepted (b) been rejected or (c) are the subject of further discussion; how many of those applications which have been assessed as technically eligible have received pre-works contract support to date; and how many applicants have to date submitted detailed project plans and costs, including a construction tender price.

Christopher Pincher: The Department published registration statistics on 30th September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics. We will publish a further update in due course.

Buildings: Insulation

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to support leaseholders where building warranty and insurance providers enter administration within the warranty period.

Christopher Pincher: It is the responsibility of the Financial Conduct Authority to regulate new build warranties and protect consumers. If a consumer is unhappy with the warranty provider’s action, they can contact the Financial Ombudsman Services for free. If a warranty provider enters administration, alternative warranty cover should be arranged, and help can be sought through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Property Development: Floods

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of new developments built after 2019 are resilient to flooding.

Christopher Pincher: We do not collect this data. The National Planning Policy and guidance on managing flood risk is clear that inappropriate development in areas at current or future risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk, towards areas at least risk. Where development is necessary in a flood risk area, and where there are no suitable sites available in areas with a lower risk of flooding, it should be made safe without increasing flood risk elsewhere and be appropriately flood resistant and resilient.  The Environment Agency must be consulted on planning applications in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea, and is a statutory consultee on all planning applications (other than for minor development) which is to be carried out on land in an area within Flood Zones 2 and 3; or in Flood Zone 1 which has critical drainage issues.My Department publishes figures on the proportion of new residential addresses created in areas of high or medium risk of flooding within National Flood Zone 3, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/900933/1718_Residential_Address_Change_Statistics_Live_Tables_-_Update.xlsx with the figures are currently available for 2013-14 to 2017-18, in Live Tables P320 and P321.

Housing: Insulation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to support shared ownership residents to meet the costs of replacing dangerous cladding in buildings below 18 metres.

Christopher Pincher: The Government’s decision to place the scope of Government funding at buildings over 18m reflects the exceptional fire risk that certain cladding products pose at that height, as previously noted by Dame Judith Hackitt. It remains building owners’ responsibility to address unsafe cladding on buildings of all heights. We have provided advice from the Expert Panel on the measures building owners should take to ensure their buildings are safe.

Housing: Insulation

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of making additional funding available to increase the rate of the replacement of dangerous cladding.

Christopher Pincher: The Government has made £1.6 billion of public funding available for the remediation of unsafe cladding on high rise residential buildings to make homes safer, quicker. In addition to funding the removal of unsafe cladding, Government is also providing expert technical and pre-tender financial support for successful fund applicants.Building owners should also explore every opportunity to fund this work via those originally responsible for the defects and warranty claims before seeking Government funding or passing on costs to their leaseholders. We are committed to reviewing demand for the Building Safety Fund and are doing so as evidence of demand becomes clearer from the application process.

Building Safety Fund

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the May 2020 announcement that the Building Safety Fund will be distributed on a first come, first served basis, what steps he is taking to sort applications to replace unsafe cladding in rank order.

Christopher Pincher: As set out in the Building Safety Fund Prospectus, the fund has a maximum value of £1 billion which will be available in the financial year 2020/21. As projects are approved for funding by MHCLG, sums will be allocated from the £1 billion until the total funding is spent. This will incentivise the pace we expect building owners to demonstrate in progressing these remediation projects. The Department will cease to accept full applications once funding allocations are forecast to achieve this value.? We are committed to reviewing demand for the scheme and are doing so as evidence of demand becomes clearer from the application process.

Housing: Insulation

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he can take against lenders that continue to require the provision of an EWS1 form in cases where the building or property falls outside the scope of that requirement; and if will make a statement.

Christopher Pincher: The EWS1 process is not a Government or regulatory requirement. Whether an EWS1 is needed is determined by lenders and the professionals valuing a building - not all lenders ask for an EWS1. The Department is pleased that industry has confirmed flats in blocks without cladding will be clearly excluded from the process. Government will continue to work with industry to support a more proportionate approach.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish additional detailed information on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Luke Hall: The Government is committed to creating the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to succeed European structural funds and provide vital investment in local economies. The Fund will bind together the whole of the United Kingdom, tackling inequality and deprivation in each of our four nations.   We will set out further details on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund following the Spending Review.

Homelessness: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish details of local authority funding allocations under the (a) Flexible Homelessness Support Grant and (b) Homelessness Reduction Grant for the financial year 2021-22; and what discussions he is having with local authority representatives ahead of the final allocations being decided.

Kelly Tolhurst: Funding for next year is a matter for the Spending Review, which is due to be announced shortly. Further details will be published in due course after that.

Homelessness: Coronavirus

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding provided to local authorities to perform their duties under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 in light of the (a) health and (b) economic conditions resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.

Kelly Tolhurst: In January 2020, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government announced £263?million in funding to local authorities to support them to deliver services to tackle homelessness in 2020/21. At the time, this was is an increase in overall funding for homelessness of £23 million on the previous financial year.In total, following the onset of the pandemic, the Government is now spending over £700 million pounds to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year alone.We have given councils an unprecedented £7.2 billion package of support. This includes £4.6 billion in un-ringfenced funding, £1.1 billion from the Infection Control Fund, £300 million to support Test and Trace, as well as funding allocated to councils from the new Local Alert Level system and a number of grants to support communities and vulnerable people.

Ministry of Defence

Veterans: Proof of Identity

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer 3 September 2020 to Question 81645, what steps have been taken to develop an online verification tool for the purpose of verifying Veterans ID cards.

Johnny Mercer: Officials in the Ministry of Defence continue to work with the Office for Veterans' Affairs within the Cabinet Office to develop ideas on how to build an online digital verification tool so that people can prove they served. Work is progressing but we are unable to confirm a delivery date at this point.Information on phase two of the Veterans' ID card will be released closer to the launch date at the following website:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-veterans-id-cards-rolled-out-to-service-leavers

Army: Parades

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that parents and guardians of soldiers can attend passing out parades during the covid-19 outbreak.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has issued guidance to the Armed Forces for the conduct of ceremonial events, including passing out parades, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Risks are carefully assessed and events must satisfy all relevant public health regulations and guidance. This allows these events to continue taking place with a limited audience.

Defence: Coronavirus

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the criteria used to determine whether parts of the defence industry are classed as essential businesses allowed to remain open during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown restrictions; how many manufacturers of arms and defence equipment continue to operate during that period; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Quin: The published guidance on the latest national restrictions in England which came into effect from 5 November 2020 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november. The Ministry of Defence continues to remain engaged with defence contractors to ensure that critical defence outputs can be delivered in a Covid-19 secure way. No central information is held on the number of defence businesses remaining open during the current restrictions.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of recruitment to the (a) regular and (b) reserve armed forces.

James Heappey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 September 2020 to Question 78846 to the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Mr Morgan).Armed Forces: Coronavirus (docx, 14.3KB)

HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the out-of-service dates for HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark will remain 2033 and 2034 respectively.

Jeremy Quin: On current plans, the out-of-service dates for HMS ALBION and HMS BULWARK will remain 2033 and 2034 respectively.

Armed Forces: Charities

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide additional financial support for armed forces charities during the (a) autumn 2020 and covid-19 lockdown and (b) regional covid-19 restrictions.

Jeremy Quin: The Government has been proactive in providing support to the charity sector in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) in the Cabinet Office have played a leading role in this effort by providing £6 million in funding for the Armed Forces community, through the COVID Impact Fund. The MOD and OVA work in partnership with Service charities to deliver support where needed and for the most vulnerable and have been working closely with them throughout the pandemic to ensure the important help and support they provide remains available to veterans. The Government has pledged £750 million to ensure voluntary community and social enterprise organisations can continue their vital work supporting the country during the coronavirus outbreak including £200 million for the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, along with an additional £150 million from dormant bank and building society accounts. This fund also includes £60 million for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to support thousands of charities on the frontline helping people affected by COVID-19. Other pre-existing funding streams are available to Armed Forces charities, including through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund, to which the Government provides £10 million annually. The Trust runs frequent and regularly updated funding streams for the Armed Forces Community for projects across the UK. Charities also have access to other support packages made available by HM Treasury, including the Business Loan Interruption scheme and the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme. An overview of Government financial support for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19. The Government continues to monitor the financial health of charities and regularly meets with charities and their representative bodies to ensure that their views are heard and understood.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with representatives (a) among the self-employed and (b) workers in the creative arts sector on the operation of the social security system during the covid-19 outbreak.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Kickstart Scheme

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons applications to the Government’s Kickstart scheme are restricted to (a) limited companies and (b) registered charities.

Mims Davies: The Kickstart Scheme is open to a wide range of public, private and charitable sector employers. To apply for funding via the DWP’s Kickstart Scheme, we require a Companies House registration number or a Charity Commission number. Public Sector organisations and exempt charities can still apply and there is guidance that outlines the process. This requirement enables our due diligence checks to ensure the proper spending of public money. Businesses without a Companies House registration number may still apply through a Kickstart Gateway.

Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of lifting the benefit cap until adequate employment incentives provide a basis for its reintroduction.

Mims Davies: There are currently no plans to make any changes to the benefit cap. The benefit cap provides fairness for taxpaying households, whilst providing a reasonable safety net of support for the most vulnerable. Whilst this means that some claimants will have a limit on the total amount of benefits they can receive, there are a range of exemptions for when the cap should not be applied, including exemptions for the most vulnerable claimants who are entitled to disability benefits and carer benefits.

Employment: Young People

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure that increasing working hours is economically advantageous for young people living in supported accommodation.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the interaction between universal credit and housing benefit earnings tapers.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will (a) increase the threshold at which the earnings taper is applied to housing benefit and (b) reintroduce a universal credit work allowance for young people living in supported accommodation.

Will Quince: The income taper in Housing Benefit and the earnings taper in Universal Credit are designed to ensure that work always pays. They ensure that benefit is not reduced on a pound for pound basis. Whilst receiving Universal Credit, a claimant’s income is disregarded for Housing Benefit purposes and there is no change to the amount they receive. If their Universal Credit claim ends, then their Housing Benefit claim is reassessed. Some of their earnings will be disregarded based on their personal circumstances. When a claimant’s income, after the disregards have been applied, is higher than their applicable amount, Housing Benefit is reduced by a fixed taper of 65p for every £1 of additional income, meaning that they will always be better off in work. The applicable amounts in Housing Benefit are made up of personal allowances, paid according to age and family status, added to premiums which are designed to help particular groups of people who may have additional expenses. These amounts are uprated each year alongside other benefits. Work allowances are already available to Universal Credit claimants who have children or limited capability for work, including those living in supported accommodation. Work allowances provide additional incentives and support for these particular groups who may find it more difficult to get into, or progress in work.

Kickstart Scheme

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Kickstart Scheme applications are assessed within the stated timeframe of one month; and what the average time taken is for an employee to begin a placement after an application has been approved under that scheme.

Mims Davies: We are not currently able to share this information. Our aim is to process applications within four weeks, although they may take longer if we have to seek additional information from the bidder.

Kickstart Scheme

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average processing time is for applications to the Kickstart Scheme in (a) Wakefield, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) England.

Mims Davies: Weare unable to provide location specific processing times as many applications cover multiple areas or even nations within Great Britain. Our aim to process applications within four weeks, although they may take longer if we have to seek additional information from the bidder.

Universal Credit

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of compensating people who had their universal credit payments reduced due to the periodic assessment regulations.

Will Quince: There is no change to the period of assessment for Universal Credit. The Court of Appeal ruled that the way the Department calculated Universal Credit awards involving earnings in an assessment period was a correct application of the regulations, but called on it to consider the impact on the specific cases of those paid calendar monthly who are affected by ‘a non-banking day salary shift’. The legislation we laid on 20th October, and which came into force on 16th November, revises those arrangements and provides a remedy that satisfies the Court of Appeal Judgment in the case of Johnson and Others. The Court of Appeal’s Judgment affects a small minority of claimants in very specific circumstances and the estimated cost is expected to be minimal.

Industrial Health and Safety

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many spot checks the Health and Safety Executive has carried out in each industry since March 2020.

Mims Davies: Since March 2020 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has carried out a total of 48,165 spot-checks to assess COVID-secure control measures in the workplace. Industry sectorNumber of spot-checksAgriculture1808Construction3158Extractive Utilities241Manufacturing21581Services13181Water / Waste Management3100Unknown5096Total48165  Note: Figures were extracted from HSE’s live operational database and provide the picture on the date of extraction (19 November 2020) and are subject to change. HSE is currently undertaking an extensive data cleansing and reconciliation exercise which means that these volumes are estimated. Updated volumes, post the reconciliation exercise, will be available from Wednesday 25 November 2020.

Kickstart Scheme

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications her Department has (a) received and (b) approved for Kickstart Scheme funding in (i) each UK region and (ii) the Sheffield City Region.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many job placements have been (a) created and (b) filled through the Kickstart Scheme in (a) each UK region and (b) the Sheffield City Region.

Mims Davies: I refer the honourable member to the Parliamentary Question HL10193, answered on 12 November. We are not yet able to break Kickstart data down by region.

State Retirement Pensions: Coronavirus

Colum Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason her Department has not increased the state pension to assist people through the covid-19 outbreak.

Guy Opperman: In April 2020, the Government increased the rates of the basic and new State Pensions by 3.9%, in line with average earnings growth. This was the highest increase since 2012. In cash terms, it took the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension to over £1,900 more than it had been in April 2010.In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government introduced an Uprating Bill to ensure State Pension and Pension Credit could be increased from April 2021. The Secretary of State will very shortly be announcing the outcome of her annual uprating review which will set out planned increases for State Pension rates for 2021/22.

Covid Winter Grant Scheme

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether every child eligible for free school meals will be eligible for support from the Covid Winter Grant Scheme over the Christmas holidays.

Will Quince: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 23rd November to Parliamentary Question 116602.https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-11-17/116602

National Insurance: Coronavirus

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what alternative arrangements are in place for people seeking to apply for a national insurance number during the period of suspension of face-to-face interviews during the covid-19 outbreak.

Guy Opperman: DWP are responsible for the allocation of National Insurance Numbers to residents living in England, Scotland and Wales. The Department for Communities is responsible to the residents of Northern Ireland.In order for a National Insurance Number (NINo) to be allocated an individual’s identity needs to have been verified.DWP have continued to allocate NINos to those who require one for benefit purposes and for those who are entitled to Student Finance. DWP have also continued to work with the Home office to provide a NINo allocation services for Tier 2 visa holders and Refugees and their adult dependants.In England, Scotland and Wales, DWP are offering a NINo allocation service to foreign nationals who have already had their identity verified as part of their visa application before they entered the UK. This is done through a data sharing agreement with the Home Office.DWP started testing a partial digital solution, on a small scale, in mid-October, to support the issuing of National Insurance Numbers, which is still ongoing. This solution enables collection of the applicant’s data, but not the online verification of their identity. Alternative identity verification solutions to reduce the need for a face to face identity check for some customer groups is under development as part of this test.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has put in place plans to scrutinise the husbandry practices of EU nations after the end of the transition period.

Victoria Prentis: The UK is proud of its world-leading food, health and animal welfare standards. After the transition period, we will maintain our own sanitary and phytosanitary system so that we can set our own rules and standards. We have been clear that we will not lower our standards nor put the UK's biosecurity at risk as we negotiate new trade deals.The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains our standards on animal welfare, animal and plant health and food safety at the end of the transition period. This maintains the same high level of protection for both domestic and imported products.From 1 January 2021, the UK will assess and inspect trading partners who apply to import live animals and their products, to ensure that our import conditions for food and feed safety and standards, animal health and animal welfare are properly met. Assessments will be coordinated by Defra and will be based on the risk associated with a specific import. This will ensure the UK maintains a high level of protection of human and animal health for its citizens and businesses.

Agriculture: Technology

Ben Everitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to use AgriTech innovation to open up new export markets for British agricultural businesses.

Victoria Prentis: Defra is investing in the development of new technologies that will enhance the UK's international standing as a global leader on agri-tech innovation. We are working closely with the Department for International Trade (DIT) to provide support to UK Agri-Tech companies looking to expand into new markets, in partnership with the DIT's overseas network.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Staff

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of his Department's staff have been redeployed since 1 July 2020 to work on (a) covid-19 response and (b) the transition period following the departure of the UK from the EU.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which workstreams in his Department have been paused or suspended to prioritise covid-19 response or exiting the EU transition work since 1 July 2020.

Victoria Prentis: The Government is committed to delivering its manifesto and policy commitments while preparing for the end of the transition period and responding to the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. We have established a central team to co-ordinate our Covid-19 response and preparations for the end of transition. 36 staff have moved since 1 July to bolster teams working on these priorities. These teams have been supplemented by cross-Government moves and external recruitment. Moving staff to meet our priorities is normal practice and in line with usual business planning.

River Severn: Flood Control

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating additional funding to the (a) River Severn Partnership and (b) Environment Agency to further reduce the risk of flooding along the River Severn.

Rebecca Pow: The recent Budget announcement confirmed that the Government will double the amount it invests in the flood and coastal defence programme in England to £5.2 billion over six years from 2021, better protecting a further 336,000 properties including 290,000 homes. The £5.2 billion capital programme will continue to be allocated in accordance with Defra’s Partnership Funding Policy. This policy clarifies the level of investment communities can expect from Defra so that it is clear what levels of partner funding they need to attract from other sources to allow projects to go ahead. In July this year, the Government announced that up to an additional £170 million will be spent to accelerate work on shovel-ready flood defence schemes that will begin construction in 2020 or 2021. The Government awarded the River Severn Partnership a significant additional investment from this fund which is providing up to £30 million for the Severn Valley.

Flood Control

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what preparations have been made (a) along the River Severn and (b) across the UK for potential flooding during winter 2020-21.

Rebecca Pow: This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. There are around 6,500 trained staff across the country, ready to respond to flooding. The Environment Agency (EA) may be responding to several concurrent incidents at the same time as adhering to Government coronavirus guidelines. This year, the EA has completed around 20,000 inspections of flood risk management assets. The EA is making sure that any flood defences and equipment damaged during last winter’s flooding are either fixed or will have robust contingency plans in place. Around 160 projects will likely have contingency plans, such as temporary defences, in place that will ensure communities are well prepared for winter. This winter, the EA’s Flood Action Campaign is asking communities to PREPARE, ACT, SURVIVE. Over 1.4 million properties are already signed up to receive free flood warnings. Since winter 2015-16, the EA has invested in kit including 40 kilometres of temporary flood barriers and 250 high volume pumps.Since April 2015 the EA has completed over 700 new flood and coastal defence projects. These include the Ipswich tidal defence barrier, phase 1 of the Exeter flood defence scheme and the Croston flood risk management scheme. Over 250,000 homes have already been better protected, working with partner risk management authorities. Of this total, 160,000 homes have benefitted from reduced flood risk delivered by EA schemes, and 90,000 homes at reduced risk through other Risk Management Authority led projects. The EA is investing £500,000 in additional equipment and training to improve availability of its suppliers and specialists in flood incidents. For part (a) specific to the Rivern Severn, I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I provided to his recent PQ 97520 asking “what steps his Department is taking to prevent flooding along the River Severn in winter 2020-21.” This is available at:https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-09-30/97520

Glass and Plastics: Recycling

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has assessed the potential effect of including glass in a future deposit return scheme on levels of plastic packaging.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the increase in the amount of (a) PET bottles and (b) aluminium cans on the market in countries where glass beverage containers are included in deposit return schemes.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of glass beverage bottles on the market in countries where glass beverage containers are included in a deposit return scheme.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on emissions from waste collection of including glass in a deposit return scheme.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the glass industry on the scope of his Department's proposed deposit return scheme.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of a deposit return scheme on glass recycling rates.

Rebecca Pow: Waste is a devolved matter. As part of the Government's ambitious commitments to reforming producer responsibility systems, we have committed to introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers. A first consultation on the issue was held in 2019 where we consulted jointly with the Welsh Government and on behalf of Northern Ireland.Officials have been developing proposals for a deposit return scheme for drinks containers using further evidence and ongoing engagement with stakeholders. They have met with the glass industry on several occasions to discuss the inclusion of glass in a DRS. British Glass is also a member of our DRS Industry Working Group and sits on Defra’s Packaging and Collections Working Group which provides input on Defra’s major waste reforms. We have conducted further cost benefit analysis on the inclusion of glass in a DRS. The interim findings demonstrate that the inclusion of glass in the long term has a higher value than not including glass given the potential for increased collection and recycling rates and the resulting greater reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This will be presented in an Impact Assessment alongside the second consultation. Our analysis has not included an assessment of market shifts in materials. Further research would be needed to distinguish the effects on consumer purchasing habits in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a result of the introduction of a DRS.The proposed scope of a DRS will be presented in a second consultation in 2021.

Flood Control: Flood Control

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on updating plans for all (a) catchments and (b) coastal cells in England.

Rebecca Pow: The government recognises the important role that strategic planning plays in managing flood and coastal erosion risks. The Flood Risk Regulations 2009 set out the current statutory process for regional flood risk planning over a six-year cycle. The Environment Agency is working with Lead Local Flood Authorities (LLFAs) to review and update Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) as part of the next cycle of flood risk planning. This will aim to improve local flood risk management planning and will also inform the government’s long-term commitment to transform local flood risk planning, as set out in the government Policy Statement on Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management. Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process and the government is committed to supporting communities on the coastline to adapt to and manage the risks of climate change. Defra has provided £1 million to refresh the 20 Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) in England. The Environment Agency is working with coastal authorities to update SMPs which set the future policy direction and management of the coast.

Home Office

Criminal Records: EU Countries

Karen Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on joining (a) Europol, (b) Eurojust, (c) the Schengen Information System (SIS II), (d) the European Criminal Records Information System and (e) Passenger Name Records Data on 1 January 2021; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The safety and security of our citizens is the Government’s top priority. We’ve been negotiating an agreement with the EU on law enforcement and criminal justice to equip operational partners on both sides with capabilities to protect citizens and bring criminals to justice. As set out in the UK’s published Approach to Negotiations, we believe an agreement in this area should include: arrangements that support data exchange for law enforcement purposes; operational cooperation between law enforcement authorities; and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. We have therefore proposed this agreement should include capabilities similar to those provided by SIS II, ECRIS and PNR. The UK is not seeking membership of either Europol or Eurojust – that is not how third country arrangements with these agencies work. In line with the UK Approach, our legal text provides for cooperation between the UK and Europol and UK and Eurojust to facilitate multilateral law enforcement and criminal justice cooperation. The UK will continue to be a global leader on security and one of the safest countries in the world.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Migrant Workers

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether, in line with former Foreign and Commonwealth Office policy, non-UK nationals formerly employed by the Department for International Development and now working for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will have the combined time spent serving in both the UK and overseas counted as being ordinarily resident in the UK in support of applications for UK citizenship.

Kevin Foster: The requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen are based on a period of residence in the United Kingdom. UK Visas and Immigration would normally consider exercising some discretion over excess absences where a person had established their home, employment, family and finances in the UK, and the excess absences were the result of postings abroad in Crown service, or in accompanying a British citizen spouse or civil partner on an appointment overseas. This applies to all permanent and established Crown servants, irrespective of their department.

Slavery: Libya and Sub-Saharan Africa

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to (a) tackle human trafficking from sub-Saharan Africa and Libya and (b) educate and inform people about the resultant modern slavery.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office is committed to tackling modern slavery and human trafficking internationally, and to raising awareness to help increase resilience against these crimes and prevent them from happening in the first place. We work closely with the FCDO, who are working to protect those who are travelling on the dangerous migration route into Libya. As part of their current £70 million migration programme (2017-21), which works along the whole route from West Africa via the Sahel to Libya, they have allocated around £5 million to humanitarian assistance and protection for migrants and refugees in Libya, including targeted healthcare. UK aid is also making those migrating aware of the dangers ahead and supporting them to return voluntarily. We are educating people before they decide to travel to Libya, informing them about the living conditions and the other risks they may face, such as falling into the hands of human traffickers. As part of the Home Office’s Modern Slavery Fund, we are working globally including in sub-Saharan African countries, to tackle modern slavery and raise awareness about this crime:In Nigeria, the Fund is delivering a £5 million programme between 2018 and 2021 to fund criminal justice capacity-building, victim support and prevention work in vulnerable communities. Our strategic communications campaign ‘Not For Sale’ reached over 1.1m people, with 93% of families who had heard of it responding positively.In Ethiopia, our work includes projects to raise community awareness of exploitative domestic work and to negotiate better conditions for those who want to enter this sector.In Sudan, our partners have advised the National Committee for Combatting Trafficking on how they can best deliver awareness raising campaigns on human trafficking and forced labour, tailored to their local context and based on UK experiences of similar communications campaigns.In addition to these programmes, we continue to push for change on a global scale as part of our efforts to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking, by working with other countries and multilateral fora such as the G7, G20, Commonwealth and UN. We also work with partners to combat the criminal gangs who exploit and traffic people internationally.

Deportation: Sleeping Rough

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) charities and (b) local authorities on her Department's proposals to deport foreign national rough sleeper after the transition period.

Chris Philp: The new Immigration Rules, which make provision for the refusal or cancellation of permission to stay in the UK on the basis of rough sleeping, will apply to non-EEA nationals from 1 December 2020 and to newly arriving EEA citizens from 1 January 2021 and will only be used after all support is rejected.The Home Office and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government are encouraging local authorities and approved charities to resolve the immigration status of rough sleepers and unlock access to any benefits and entitlements that rough sleepers may be eligible for.

Immigrants: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of No Recourse to Public Funds conditions on levels of rough sleeping.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold data on the number of people rough sleeping in the UK who are subject to no recourse to public funds (NRPF).NRPF is applied to migrants who are expected to maintain and accommodate themselves in the UK, without recourse to public funds. However, individuals whose basis of stay in the UK is based on their family life or human rights can apply to have the NRPF condition lifted by making a ‘change of conditions’ application if there are exceptional circumstances related to financial circumstances, to avoid destitution and rough sleeping.The Home Office has published its policy equality statement on the impact of the No Recourse to Public Fund (NRPF) policy on migrants on the 10-year human rights route. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-change-of-conditions-of-leave-to-allow-access-to-public-funds-if-your-circumstances-change.To avoid destitution and sleeping rough, those without immigration status should regularise their stay or leave the UK. There is support available to do this through the Voluntary Returns Service.The Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS) offers an enhanced service for Local Authorities and registered charities to establish whether a rough sleeper has access to public funds. Part of this service includes the RSSS contacting casework teams (where there is an open application) to request that the case is prioritised. The Home Office remains committed to working with Local Authorities in their work with non-UK national rough sleepers.

Immigrants: Finance

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of No Recourse to Public Funds conditions on the number of people rough sleeping in the UK.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold data on the number of people rough sleeping in the UK who are subject to no recourse to public funds (NRPF).NRPF is applied to migrants who are expected to maintain and accommodate themselves in the UK, without recourse to public funds. However, individuals whose basis of stay in the UK is based on their family life or human rights can apply to have the NRPF condition lifted by making a ‘change of conditions’ application if there are exceptional circumstances related to financial circumstances, to avoid destitution and rough sleeping.The Home Office has published its policy equality statement on the impact of the No Recourse to Public Fund (NRPF) policy on migrants on the 10-year human rights route. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-change-of-conditions-of-leave-to-allow-access-to-public-funds-if-your-circumstances-change.To avoid destitution and sleeping rough, those without immigration status should regularise their stay or leave the UK. There is support available to do this through the Voluntary Returns Service.The Rough Sleeping Support Service (RSSS) offers an enhanced service for Local Authorities and registered charities to establish whether a rough sleeper has access to public funds. Part of this service includes the RSSS contacting casework teams (where there is an open application) to request that the case is prioritised. The Home Office remains committed to working with Local Authorities in their work with non-UK national rough sleepers.

Sleeping Rough: Deportation

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether an equality impact assessment has been carried out in respect of her Department's plans to make rough sleeping grounds for deportation under the immigration rules.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what circumstances would someone who is rough sleeping be considered to have refused support under her Department's plans to make rough sleeping grounds for deportation under the immigration rules.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance will be given to immigration caseworkers to ensure that her Department's plans to make rough sleeping grounds for deportation under the immigration rules will be used as a last resort.

Chris Philp: The new Immigration Rules make provision for the refusal or cancellation of permission to stay in the UK on the basis of rough sleeping. This will only be used where individuals have repeatedly refused support offers such as accommodation and are engaged in anti-social behaviour.Guidance will be provided for decision makers to make clear the circumstances in which permission may be cancelled or refused, and this will also be available on GOV.UK when the new provision comes into force.An Equality Impact Assessment was completed for all the Immigration Rules laid on 22 October 2020.

Osime Brown

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to review the deportation order of Osime Brown.

Chris Philp: We only ever return foreign national offenders who we and, where applicable, the courts are satisfied do not need our protection and have no legal basis to remain in the UK. No action would be taken to deport an individual while there are outstanding legal barriers that would prevent their removal from the UK and until all outstanding representations have been considered.It would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.

Immigrants: Sleeping Rough

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the compliance of the new discretionary power in the Immigration Rules to refuse or cancel a person’s permission to stay in the UK on the basis of that person’s rough sleeping with (a) the public sector equality duty, (b) Section 6 Human Rights Act 1998, (c) Articles 2,3, 8 and 14 European Convention of Human Rights and (d) covid-related public health policy (i) in general and (ii) with respect to BAME groups.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the new discretionary power in the Immigration Rules to refuse or cancel a person’s permission to stay in the UK on the basis of that person’s rough sleeping, what guidance is available on safeguards and the permissible use of that discretionary power.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the new discretionary power in the Immigration Rules to refuse or cancel a person’s permission to stay in the UK on the basis of that person’s rough sleeping, whether that power can be used in relation to persons whose asylum claim has been finally determined and refused.

Chris Philp: The new Immigration Rules make provision for the refusal or cancellation of permission to stay in the UK on the basis of rough sleeping. The new rule will apply on a discretionary basis to non-EEA nationals from 1 December 2020 and to newly arriving EEA nationals from 1 January 2021. The provision will be used sparingly and only where individuals have refused support offers such as accommodation and are engaged in persistent anti-social behaviour.A person is expected to leave the UK if their leave is cancelled or refused, including where they have been refused protection status and have no other legal basis to remain here. If they do not choose to leave voluntarily we may enforce their removal. They will not be subject to deportation action unless they have been convicted of criminal offences other than those relating to immigration, or have demonstrated serious or persistent criminality, or for reasons of national security.Guidance will be provided for decision-makers to make clear the circumstances in which permission may be cancelled or refused, and this will be available on GOV.UK when the new provision comes into force.An Equality Impact Assessment was completed for all the Immigration Rules laid on 22 October 2020.

Immigration Bail: Coronavirus

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on immigration bail reporting; and what public health advice or information led to the decision in March 2020 to suspend in-person reporting as a condition of bail.

Chris Philp: On Tuesday 17 March, following Public Health and Government guidance relating to COVID19 and the developing situation, we paused immigration reporting and sent an SMS text message to reportees with a valid mobile telephone number on our systems informing them of this. On Tuesday 24 March we maintained the decision to close reporting centres and police reporting temporarily following the Prime Minister’s address to the nation. This was because we were not confident that we could practice safe social distancing. Immigration Enforcement recommenced face to face reporting in July and August for limited, priority cohorts of people. We have implemented Safe Systems of Working (SSOW) and Risk Assessments in all our Reporting Centres where we have put in place robust social distancing measures; health screening questions are asked as a person enters; face masks are offered to those who have travelled without them; one-way systems and sanitiser stations are placed throughout our buildings. We continue to review our current reporting arrangements in line with any new local and national COVID restrictions that are put in place. Before inviting individuals into reporting, case owners will make an assessment based on the harm that they may pose to the public, as well as the vulnerability and personal circumstances of all of those we ask to report. We continue to keep in contact with the overall reporting population by telephone to update individuals on the current reporting position. An SMS text or email/letter is sent to those required to recommence reporting informing them of the date and time they should report, along with relevant advice on COVID. We have also updated the reporting pages on GOV.UK for those who report and their representatives. This information includes how to travel most safely by public transport, avoiding both busy transport hubs and traveling at peak times; advice on reporting alone where possible; and what to do if those reporting have symptoms or are shielding and how to contact their local reporting centre.

Refugees: Resettlement

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2020 to Question 111491, what criteria her Department is using to assess when it is safe to resume refugee resettlement activity.

Chris Philp: Subsequent to the Honourable Member's question of 4 November, I am pleased to say that, as announced by Baroness Williams of Trafford in the House of Lords on 9 November, the UK will shortly restart resettlement arrivals to fulfil our commitment of resettling 20,000 refugees affected by the conflict in Syria under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) and we are working closely with partners to deliver this commitment.Due to the lead times for refugee arrivals, it is likely that we will see most refugees start to arrive early in the new year

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Question

Mr Tobias Ellwood: What plans the Government has for the publication of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.

James Cleverly: The Prime Minister commissioned the Integrated Review as the most ambitious review of our foreign policy since the Cold War. The Prime Minister set out in his speech to the House on 19 November how the UK will support a world order in which open societies and economies flourish. The Indo-Pacific is of central importance. The Prime Minister is clear: Global Britain will be more active and engaged around the world. The FCDO is central to delivery and we will integrate development and diplomatic expertise to maximise UK impact as a force for good. We will apply a more strategic lens to our use of ODA to ensure it delivers both for the ‘bottom billion’ and in the UK’s national interest.

Pakistan: Forced Marriage

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to support girls who have been subject to forced conversions and marriages in Sindh, Pakistan.

Nigel Adams: The UK Government strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls from religious minorities in Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief, women and girls' rights and gender equality with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. Most recently, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and the Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief and the protection of minority religious communities with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 16 November.In addition, the British High Commission in Islamabad meets frequently with minority religious communities in Pakistan to understand the pressures they face. We also engage with the Parliamentary Committee on Forced Conversions, the Council of Islamic Ideology, and civil society organisations to influence awareness and policy on these issues, including in Sindh.

Sri Lanka: Keenie Meenie Services

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support he is providing to the Metropolitan Police investigating Keenie Meenie Services in relation to war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Nigel Adams: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are assisting the Metropolitan Police War Crime's Unit in relation to this investigation, including by sharing relevant documents. We are not able to provide further comment on the details of the investigation, as it is ongoing.

China: Taiwan

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports that the Chinese People's Liberation Army has built a full-scale replica of Taiwan’s presidential office building to serve as a military training complex; and whether the UK plans to provide Taiwan with appropriate assistance to preserve its existing status.

Nigel Adams: We are concerned by any action which raises tensions in the region and risks destabilising the status quo. HMG considers the Taiwan issue one to be settled by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Directors

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2020 to Question 113194, what assessment he has made of the Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service's comments to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 10 November 2020 that there will be a smaller number of directors in his Department.

Nigel Adams: When the two organisations merged, some director roles were duplicated. We have addressed this as part of the new director structure that will have 42 positions overall. The new director structure will fully integrate development and foreign policy objectives and be implemented from December.

China: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 11 November 2020 to Question 110830, whether he has recently made representations to the Chinese Government on freedom of religion or belief violations in China.

Nigel Adams: The UK regularly raises Freedom of Religion or Belief directly with the Chinese authorities and via multilateral action at the UN. The Foreign Secretary has personally raised our serious concerns with his Chinese counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on a number of occasions, most recently in late July. On 6 October, the UK and 38 other countries joined a statement at the UN Third Committee in New York calling on China to respect human rights, particularly the rights of persons belonging to religious and ethnic minorities, including in Xinjiang and Tibet.

Kashmir: Armed Conflict

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Indian counterpart on the recent shelling by its forces of areas within Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Indian counterpart on behalf of UK citizens who have family members whose homes have been destroyed by the shelling by Indian forces of areas within Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Nigel Adams: We are in regular contact with the Governments of India and Pakistan. The Prime Minister has underlined the importance of resolving issues through dialogue to both of his counterparts. The Minister for South Asia discussed Kashmir with the Indian Foreign Secretary on 3 November and the Pakistani Foreign Secretary (both Permanent Under-Secretary equivalents) on 8 September.

Question

Cat Smith: What recent representations he has made to the Polish Government on (a) women’s and (b) LGBT+ rights in that country.

Wendy Morton: I raised LGBT rights with Deputy Foreign Minister Przydacz when I visited Warsaw on 8 October. Our Embassy in Warsaw works actively on this agenda with both the Polish government and civil society, in close cooperation with our diplomatic partners.We are closely monitoring developments following a ruling on 22 October by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal that laws permitting abortion in most cases are unconstitutional and the protests across Poland that this has prompted.Our Embassy in Warsaw is active on the gender equality agenda and in September ran a workshop for British and Polish NGOs engaged in promoting women’s rights.

Question

Chris Grayling: If he will provide additional aid funding for anti-poaching projects during the covid-19 pandemic.

James Cleverly: The full extent of the impact of Covid 19 on the illegal wildlife trade is not currently known. However, it is a serious crime, often undertaken by organised criminal networks – and it decimates endangered species, undermines growth and deprives communities of resources. In 2018 the UK hosted the largest ever illegal wildlife trading Conference, at which 65 countries signed up to the London Declaration, committing to accelerating efforts to stopping the trade. Part of that involves significantly expanding the UK’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund which has already committed over £26 million to 85 projects since 2014. We also contribute £250 million to the Global Environment Facility which runs the world’s biggest programme tackling illegal wildlife trading.

Kashmir: Armed Conflict

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) people killed, (b) people wounded, (c) households displaced and (d) civilian buildings destroyed during recent shelling by forces of the Republic of India of areas within Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether there are established processes to enable compensation by the Republic of India to families whose homes have been destroyed by its forces' shelling of areas within Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Nigel Adams: We are concerned by levels of firing and shelling between Indian and Pakistani troops in Kashmir. We urge both sides to exercise restraint and improve channels of communication. We encourage both India and Pakistan to find lasting diplomatic solutions to maintain regional stability.Any compensation processes would be a matter for the Indian and Pakistani Governments, but we are clear on the importance of rights being fully respected and continue to call for constructive dialogue with affected communities. The longstanding position of the UK is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

India: Human Rights

Nickie Aiken: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Government of India on the arrest of Fr Stan Swamy and other human rights activists; and if he will make a statement.

Nigel Adams: FCDO officials raised Father Stan Swamy's case with the Indian High Commission on 12 November. On 9 October, British High Commission officials in New Delhi highlighted to the Ministry of Home Affairs criticisms of recent amendments to Indian security legislation, including their impact on activists and human rights campaigners in India. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at ministerial level.

Question

Stephen Hammond: What diplomatic steps he is taking to support peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.

James Cleverly: We have actively encouraged the parties back to dialogue. The Foreign Secretary visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in August and urged Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli PM Netanyahu to renew cooperation, and work towards further confidence-building measures and dialogue. The Foreign Secretary welcomed the recent decision by the Palestinian Authority & the Government of Israel to restore cooperation. We encourage the parties to build on this momentum through further dialogue and compromise to move towards a lasting solution to the conflict. We also welcomed the announcement, on 13 August, of the suspension of annexation plans. Annexation would have been contrary to international law, counterproductive to peace and a severe blow to prospects for a two-state solution. We hope both of these developments can be used as a step towards direct talks between the two sides. The UK stands ready to support.

Question

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: Whether he made representations during his recent visit to Israel to his counterpart in the Israeli Government on proposals to annex parts of the West Bank.

James Cleverly: We have actively encouraged the parties back to dialogue. The Foreign Secretary visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in August and urged Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli PM Netanyahu to renew cooperation, and work towards further confidence-building measures and dialogue. The Foreign Secretary welcomed the recent decision by the Palestinian Authority & the Government of Israel to restore cooperation. We encourage the parties to build on this momentum through further dialogue and compromise to move towards a lasting solution to the conflict. We also welcomed the announcement, on 13 August, of the suspension of annexation plans. Annexation would have been contrary to international law, counterproductive to peace and a severe blow to prospects for a two-state solution. We hope both of these developments can be used as a step towards direct talks between the two sides. The UK stands ready to support.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Directors

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 10 November 2020, whether the size of his Department will be reduced.

Nigel Adams: The future shape and size of the FCDO will be influenced by the outcome of the Spending Review and the Integrated Review. As the Foreign Secretary stated, there will be no compulsory redundancies. We are working closely with staff throughout this process, and the full details of the merger, will be set out in due course.

Question

Greg Smith: What progress has been made on the international review of the content of Palestinian Authority school textbooks.

James Cleverly: The UK is concerned about allegations of incitement in Palestinian Authority textbooks. The Foreign Secretary raised this with the Palestinian Authority (PA) during his visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in August.An independent, EU commissioned, review of PA textbooks is ongoing. In July, an interim report was submitted to the EU. We have regular discussions with our European Partners to encourage them to finalise the report as soon as possible. Officials discussed the review with the EU most recently on 19 November.

Question

Sally-Ann Hart: What recent assessment the Government has made of the (a) political and (b) humanitarian situation of the Rohingya.

Nigel Adams: We are working to improve the situation in Myanmar by pushing for implementation of the Rakhine Advisory Commission’s recommendations. The Rohingya were disenfranchised in Myanmar’s recent elections and we have conveyed our concerns to the Myanmar government. We continue to push for accountability for the Rohingya. We are the second largest donor to the Rohingya response in Bangladesh, providing £293.5m since 2017. In Myanmar’s Rakhine state, we have provided over £44m since 2017, including over £25m for the Rohingya.

Question

Elliot Colburn: What recent assessment he has made of the extent of human rights violations in Sri Lanka.

Nigel Adams: The UK Government takes the human rights situation in Sri Lanka very seriously.Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, raised a number of human rights concerns, including harassment of civil society and militarisation of civilian functions, when he spoke with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gunawardena on 5 November.We have urged Sri Lanka to address concerns in our statements to the UN Human Rights Council in February, June and September.The UK will continue to highlight our concerns to the Government of Sri Lanka, and we will support human rights through our programme work including resettlement of victims of conflict and improving responses to sexual and gender based violence.

Question

Sam Tarry: What discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart on human rights in that country.

Nigel Adams: The UK Government takes the human rights situation in Sri Lanka very seriously.Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, raised a number of human rights concerns, including harassment of civil society and militarisation of civilian functions, when he spoke with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gunawardena on 5 November.We have urged Sri Lanka to address concerns in our statements to the UN Human Rights Council in February, June and September.The UK will continue to highlight our concerns to the Government of Sri Lanka, and we will support human rights through our programme work including resettlement of victims of conflict and improving responses to sexual and gender based violence.

Question

Wes Streeting: What discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart on human rights in that country.

Nigel Adams: The UK Government takes the human rights situation in Sri Lanka very seriously.Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, raised a number of human rights concerns, including harassment of civil society and militarisation of civilian functions, when he spoke with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gunawardena on 5 November.We have urged Sri Lanka to address concerns in our statements to the UN Human Rights Council in February, June and September.The UK will continue to highlight our concerns to the Government of Sri Lanka, and we will support human rights through our programme work including resettlement of victims of conflict and improving responses to sexual and gender based violence.

Bahrain: Overseas Aid

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many projects were solely delivered to Bahrain under the Integrated Activity Fund in the (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18  financial years.

James Cleverly: We do not disclose information related to individual Integrated Activity Fund projects to maintain the confidence and confidentiality of our Gulf partners.

Gulf States: Overseas Aid

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2020 to Question 106364, how many projects were applied for by his Department under the Integrated Activity Fund in financial year (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20; and what the (i) allocated budget and (ii) actual spending was for each project.

James Cleverly: I refer the Honourable Member to my response of 12 November to 113156.

Gulf States: Overseas Aid

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2020 to Question 106362, how many projects delivered through the Integrated Activity Fund (a) were and (b) were not subject to an Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessment in each of the financial years (i) 2016-17 and (ii) 2017-18.

James Cleverly: I refer the Honourable Member to my response of 12 November to 113154.

Western Sahara: British Nationals Abroad

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what advice his Department is giving to British citizens living in occupied Western Sahara following the recent breakdown of the 1991 ceasefire agreement.

James Cleverly: We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Travel Advice is regularly updated. It advises against all travel to areas of Western Sahara within 30km north west of the Berm and all areas of Western Sahara south east of the Berm.

West Bank: Demolition

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the recent demolition of Palestinian homes in the Bedouin settlement of Khirbet Humsa, in the Jordan Valley.

James Cleverly: We are concerned by increasing rates of demolition of Palestinian property by the Israeli authorities. In all but the most exceptional of circumstances demolitions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. I raised our concern about demolitions with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 29 October, and issued a statement outlining the UK's concern about the demolitions of structures in Humsa Al-Baqai'a on 6 November. Officials from the British Consulate General Jerusalem visited Humsa Al-Baqai'a on 6 November to reiterate UK support for the community. The UK provides funding to the West Bank Protection Consortium, which is coordinating with the Palestinian Red Cross and the United Nations to provide emergency shelter to the community of Humsa Al-Baqai'a, and determine the community's long-term needs. The UK is focused on preventing demolitions and evictions from happening in the first place through our legal aid programme, which supports Bedouin communities and Palestinians facing demolition or home eviction in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem. We continue to urge the Government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms for zoning, planning and permitting in Area C for the benefit of the Palestinian population, including by facilitating local Palestinian participation in such processes.

Morocco: Western Sahara

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the Moroccan Ambassador on that country's breach of the 1991 ceasefire agreement with Polisario Front by the sending of troops into the buffer zone between Western Sahara and Mauritania.

James Cleverly: We are closely monitoring the situation in Western Sahara. We continue to urge the parties to avoid further escalation, observe the ceasefire agreement, and return to the UN-led political process as soon as possible.

Morocco: Western Sahara

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will (a) discuss with the Moroccan Ambassador and (b) instruct the HM Ambassador to Morocco to raise with the Moroccan authorities reports of (i) arbitrary detention and (ii) other increased harassment by Moroccan forces of Saharawi in El Aaiun, Western Sahara.

James Cleverly: The UK is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights worldwide, including in Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps, as we regularly make clear to the parties.

Terrorism: Iran

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the recent report of the assassinations in Iran of a leading al-Qaeda organiser, what assessment he has made of the implications of that report for future UK policy to counter international terrorism.

James Cleverly: We are looking into media reports that Abu Muhammad al-Masri, a senior leader within Al-Qaeda, has been killed in Iran. These reports come on the back of a number of successful operations against senior leadership figures over the past year. However, the terrorist threat from Al-Qaeda remains. We will continue to work with international partners to fight all forms of terrorism globally, and we will work tirelessly to support those affected by it.

Palestinians: Universities

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to the Palestinian Authority following reports that a Palestinian university has named its new entrance gate after Salah Khalaf, known as Abu Iyad, who planned the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972 in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered.

James Cleverly: Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority includes a commitment from the Palestinian leadership to adhere to the principle of non-violence and to tackle language and actions that could incite violence or hatred. We have a regular dialogue with the Palestinian Authority in which we reiterate the need for both sides to prepare their populations for peaceful coexistence, including by promoting a more positive portrayal of each other. We continue to urge both the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships to avoid engaging in, or encouraging, any type of action and language that makes it more difficult to achieve a culture of peaceful coexistence and a negotiated solution to the conflict.

Iran: Terrorism

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of allegations that the Iranian regime planned to bomb the Iranian opposition party rally in Paris in June 2018.

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by Le Monde of 10 October 2020 that the Administrator-General of Belgium’s General Information and Security Service, wrote to inform the federal prosecutor in France that an attack on the resistance gathering of June 2018 was planned and led by the Iranian regime.

James Cleverly: We are aware of the ongoing trial of four Iranians in Belgium in relation to the 2018 plot against a conference in Paris. We are deeply concerned by reports that an Iranian diplomat is one of those standing trial in connection with the incident. While the legal process is ongoing, however, it would be inappropriate to comment further and we have not made specific representations to the Iranian Government. The UK strongly condemns the targeting of civilians and welcomes steps taken to hold those responsible to account. We continue to work closely with our European partners on security and counter-terrorism issues. We are not aware at this stage of a link to the UK.

Drug Resistance: Antimicrobials

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications of the widening diagnostic gap for tuberculosis and other infectious diseases on efforts to curb antimicrobial resistance.

Wendy Morton: It is still too early to establish the impact of COVID-19 on the spread of antimicrobial resistance. The UK is supporting countries to respond to the pandemic, maintain essential health services, including diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases like TB, and to strengthen health systems to combat antimicrobial resistance. This includes our investments in WHO, Global Fund and Gavi as well as bilateral support to country health systems.The FCDO funds research programmes to promote the development of new diagnostics, medicines and vaccines. For TB and multidrug-resistant-TB, this includes our support to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND). With our support, FIND have developed five new diagnostic tests for TB, now approved by WHO and being rolled out in over 27 countries. FCDO also funds UNITAID, which aims to triple access to rapid testing for MDR-TB, and to reduce MDR-TB drug prices.

Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will publish written strategies to guide its work on promoting freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria, India, China, Eritrea and Pakistan.

James Duddridge: The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. We remain deeply concerned about violations and abuses of FoRB in many parts of the world and promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's human rights policy priorities.At a country level, we lobby governments for changes in laws and practices that discriminate against individuals on the basis of their religion or belief, and we continue to raise cases of concern. We also support a number of development programmes that promote FoRB for all. The strategies employed may vary from country to country, and lobbying is often one of several activities which can be very sensitive. We have no plans to publish written strategies as we assess that doing so could undermine the effectiveness of our work on this sensitive area.

Cabinet Office

Veterans: Merseyside

Conor McGinn: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding his Department has provided to each veterans' organisation based in (a) St Helens and (b) Merseyside in each of the last five years.

Johnny Mercer: Further to the answer given on 28 April 2020 to PQ 37764 and to PQ 96068 on 28 September, the charitable and voluntary sector plays an important role in the support available to veterans and the wider Armed Forces Community. The Government provides a range of financial support to the sector including through regular grants to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which this year received £20m to distribute. A further £6m was provided to nearly 100 charities through the COVID-19 Impact Fund. This includes both funding for local projects and for organisations who operate nationally, including in the North West. The Government does not hold centrally a complete breakdown of the funding charities and organisations which support veterans in St Helens and Merseyside have received.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Jane Stevenson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether travelling from England to Wales for the purposes of securing a property is allowed during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown in England.

Penny Mordaunt: The November restrictions currently in force in England are clear that you can only leave home where there is a reasonable excuse to do so. Whether such an exemption exists will depend on the circumstances of a specific situation, but it would not normally be reasonable to do so to visit a second property.Further guidance on these restrictions is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november#travelThese restrictions will cease to have effect from 2 December.

Autism: Coronavirus

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that Government information on covid-19 is communicated effectively to people with autism.

Penny Mordaunt: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to PQs 109552, 107140 and 907859.We have an ongoing programme of engagement designed to reach vulnerable audiences and those who are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.COVID-19 guidance is available across multiple channels in a range of alternative formats, and can be found through the gov.uk accessibility statement. We have supported third parties and local support networks to deliver more detailed information for bespoke enquiries. For example, when the wearing of face coverings became mandatory for certain indoor environments, the Government produced and shared new communications to aid public understanding of groups who might be exempt. These measures were taken to ensure appropriate enforcement of regulations and to mitigate potential abuse of disabled people for perceived non-compliance.

Medicines: Northern Ireland

Stephen Farry: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the agreement reached at the fourth meeting of the Specialised Committee on the Northern Ireland Protocol on medicines covers all medicines entering Great Britain that may subsequently transit to Northern Ireland or all medicines entering the UK.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK and EU agreed, at the Ireland/Northern Ireland Specialised Committee on 5 November, to a pragmatic approach to implementing medicines regulations which ensures no disruption to the flow of medicines to Northern Ireland. This includes a one year time-limited approach to the application of the regulatory requirements for imports from other parts of the United Kingdom into Northern Ireland and the ‘safety feature’ elements of the Falsified Medicines Directive. Further guidance will be published shortly setting out the arrangements in detail.

EU Exit Operations Committee and EU Exit Strategy Committee

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions the (a) Exit Strategy and (b) Exit Operations Cabinet Committees have met since 1 January 2020.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, on which dates the (a) Exit Strategy and (b) Exit Operations Cabinet Committees have met since 1 January 2020.

Penny Mordaunt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ105615 on 22 October.

Department for International Trade

Iron and Steel: UK Trade with EU

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure an exemption for UK steel producers from the EU’s current steel safeguarding quotas.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fossil Fuels: Export Credit Guarantees

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2020 to Question 91998 on Fossil Fuels: Export Credit Guarantees, what the type of fossil fuel project is for each request being considered by UKEF.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coal Fired Power Stations: Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2020 to Question 91998, how much funding the Government has provided to (a) thermal coal mining and (b) coal power plants overseas in each of the last 10 years.

Graham Stuart: Support provided by UK Export Finance (UKEF) takes the form of guarantees, loans or insurance fully funded by premiums.Until this year UKEF did not seek details of whether the exported goods would be used for thermal or metallurgical coal; the table below therefore represents support related to the sector in general.UKEF has provided the following support for (a) coal mining and (b) coal power plants overseas during the last ten years: Coal miningCoal power plants2010/11002011/12£16.7m02012/13£52.2m02013/14002014/15002015/16002016/17£23m02017/18002018/19002019/20£59.9m0

Fossil Fuels: Export Credit Guarantees

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2020 to Question 91998 on Fossil Fuels: Export Credit Guarantees, how much funding from the public purse is being requested for each of those seven projects.

Graham Stuart: The seven projects referred to in my response to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston’s previous question, UIN: 91998, are still under consideration by UK Export Finance (UKEF), and no decisions have been made. UKEF is considering the extent and form its support might take and it is too early to quantify the value of our support.

Trade Fairs: Coronavirus

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the effect on businesses of not being able to attend tradeshows abroad.

Graham Stuart: My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade meets Cabinet colleagues on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues, including the effect of the pandemic on business.

Trade Fairs: Internet

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2020 to Question 111493, what assessment she has made of the potential adverse trade effects that may be brought to the WTO by UK funding for virtual tradeshow access.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to Answer of 9 November 2020 to Question 111493 on Trade Affairs: Internet, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on UK trade of other countries funding access to virtual trade shows.

Greg Hands: There is currently no evidence of the impact made through funding or attending virtual trade shows - adverse or otherwise - published by either UK industry or other nations, on which to make an assessment at this time.

Office for the Internal Market

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has discussed the role of the proposed Office for the Internal Market with her foreign counterparts as part of trade talks.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: There have been no discussions with foreign counterparts about the Office for the Internal Market (OIM) as set out in the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill. HM Government has been clear that the purpose of the OIM is to support the effective operation of the United Kingdom internal market by providing non-binding advice and reporting.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Cricket: Racial Discrimination

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using a similar initiative to Kick it Out to tackle racism in cricket.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of (a) structural and (b) institutional racism in professional cricket.

Nigel Huddleston: Racism or any form of discrimination has no place in cricket or wider society.Organisations such as Kick It Out play an important role in helping to tackle discrimination in local, national and international sport. It is ultimately for individual sports to decide on the appropriate initiatives for their circumstances.The Government welcomes the steps taken by the English Cricket Board (ECB) in recent years to increase diversity in cricket, including the announcement in July this year around strengthening its Inclusion and Diversity Strategy.There is still more to do, however, and we will continue to liaise with the ECB to ensure this issue is tackled effectively.

Football: Coronavirus

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he is making with the devolved Administrations to ensure that football fans can safely attend football matches as soon as possible.

Nigel Huddleston: On 23rd November, the Government announced that spectators in England will be able to attend stadia and sports venues in tiers 1 and 2, in limited numbers, from 2 December.We will continue to work closely with a whole range of sporting bodies, including the football authorities, to understand the latest thinking that might allow further spectators to return. This includes inviting the new Sports Technology Innovation Working Group of sporting bodies and health experts to analyse new technologies which might support this.The Government liaises regularly with the Devolved Administrations, however, as sport is a devolved matter, it is for them to decide on the return of spectators in their respective nations.

Public Sector: Artificial Intelligence

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement on the transparency of algorithmic decisions in public services.

Matt Warman: The ambitious digital package negotiated in the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) includes protections against the forced transfer of source code and coded algorithms. This means that UK businesses will not be forced to share their source code as a condition of entering the Japanese market and serves to protect companies’ trade secrets. As a consequence, these companies can be confident they will retain any competitive advantage that their source code provides.However the agreement also ensures that the government is still able to access the source code and algorithms when needed in order to monitor adherence to, and enforce, laws and regulations.

Internet: Fraud

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to tackle financial crime in his forthcoming legislation on online harms; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The government is deeply concerned about the scale and growth of financial crime online, including online fraud.We have consulted widely on the proposals set out in the Online Harms White Paper. We are clear that regulation must be proportionate and targeted. The new regulatory framework will not duplicate existing government activity or impose undue burdens on companies in scope. We will be setting out further details on the scope of regulation in the full government response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, which will be published this year.

Coronavirus

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of collective approaches by the Government, charities and community organisations to solving the complex challenges faced by vulnerable people as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr John Whittingdale: Charities, community organisations and volunteers are playing a vital role to support the coronavirus effort. Government continues to work closely with the civil society sector to assess both the needs of vulnerable people and the sector itself, and how government can best support the continuation of critical work.DCMS has provided a £4.8million grant to the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership, to support its work to improve coordination in the voluntary sector, and deploy volunteers and resources where they are most needed. Examples include distributing 30 tonnes of food, the equivalent of 67,000 meals in the South West and arranging 1,000 health assessments of those experiencing homelessness. The Partnership has also supported recent initiatives such as the Department for Transport’s Journey Makers. Learning is being captured on the Partnership’s response and an evaluation is to be carried out.

Third Sector: Coronavirus

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to ensure that voluntary and community sector organisations have access to adequate resources to adapt to distanced delivery as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr John Whittingdale: The £750 million package offered unprecedented support to allow charities and social enterprises to continue their vital work and adapt service delivery to support our national effort to fight coronavirus. This funding will continue to support this work over the winter.We have recently published new guidance on GOV.UK for organisations and groups, to help them to understand how to involve volunteers safely and effectively in their work during the coronavirus pandemic. Under the current national restrictions in England, people can leave home to provide voluntary or charitable services, where they cannot do this from home. We regularly update our guidance on volunteering on GOV.UK.Information on the wider measures the government has made available and details on how to access the support measures can be found on GOV.UK. The Charity Commission has also published guidance on GOV.UK, which sets out how charities can get support for their staff, advice on use of reserves, and other potential issues.Furthermore, ensuring charities can safely begin fundraising activities will be a crucial part of the sector’s recovery. DCMS has worked closely with its sectors to publish guidance relating to COVID-19. This includes practical guidance and resources from the Fundraising Regulator and Chartered Institute of Fundraising supporting charities to safeguard the public, staff and volunteers as they plan to return to fundraising activities in a safe and responsible way. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-dcms-sectors-in-relation-to-coronavirus-covid-19. Over the coming months we will continue to work with the charity, voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors to assess emerging needs and how we can best support them during the COVID-19 pandemic and through recovery.

Charities: Children

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of an innovation fund for charities to help the voluntary sector to develop effective services for children which take advantage of digital technology.

Mr John Whittingdale: Responsibility for developing services for children is held by the Department for Education, however we recognise that it is essential for charities to be part of the digital revolution. The government is committed to bringing together digital and civil society to help tackle social challenges and develop services needed.That is why DCMS provided £1.6m of set up funding for the Catalyst, a programme which is incubated by the Centre for Acceleration of Social Technology (CAST). The Catalyst brings together a network of charities, digital design agencies and major funders with the shared objective of establishing a digital support hub for the charity sector. The Catalyst programme represents the first time the charity sector has had a dedicated, high-profile coalition jointly funding and championing digital innovation in the charity sector and continues to support charities to embed digital in their strategy, services and culture.Encouraging digital innovation has long been a priority in DCMS. For example, in 2018 DCMS launched a £400,000 Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to help older and disabled people acquire digital skills. The aim of this fund was to help ensure that ‘what works’ on digital inclusion is identified, replicated and scaled. A full independent evaluation will be published soon to share learnings from this fund.

Youth Investment Fund

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the (a) capital and (b) revenue funding allocations are for the £500m Youth Investment Fund for each year for the next four years.

Mr John Whittingdale: DCMS officials continue to assess how COVID-19 is impacting on young people and youth services. We will keep engaging with the youth sector as plans for the Youth Investment Fund develop, and expect to publish further details in due course.

Youth Investment Fund

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to accelerate funding from the Youth Investment Fund to support youth organisations during the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr John Whittingdale: Government recognises the significant impact of Covid-19 on young people, particularly the most vulnerable, and the important role of youth services in supporting them.We are engaging regularly with key youth organisations and colleagues in other government departments to understand the impact of Covid-19 on the provision of vital services for young people, and options for addressing this.We will keep engaging with the youth sector as plans for the Youth Investment Fund develop, and expect to publish further details in due course.

Youth Investment Fund

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much money from the public purse has been spent through the Youth Investment Fund.

Mr John Whittingdale: No money has been distributed through the Youth Investment Fund to date.DCMS officials continue to assess how COVID-19 is impacting on young people and youth services. We will keep engaging with the youth sector as plans for the Youth Investment Fund develop, and expect to publish further details in due course.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Carbon Emissions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, with reference to the Cabinet Office Environment Policy Statement, published in April 2013, what progress has been made in reducing the carbon footprint of the Parliamentary estate.

Pete Wishart: The Houses, acting as Parliament, have their own Environmental Policy Statement and set a target to reduce absolute carbon emissions from energy use by 34% by the end of 2020/21, against an independently validated 2008/09 base year. As at the end of October Parliament was on track to meet this commitment with a 51.3% reduction in absolute carbon emissions, equivalent to a reduction of over 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the last full year compared to our baseline year.The House currently only measures and reports on scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, and is working to produce a system to measure our scope 3 impacts such as those from our supply chain, travel and waste.

Women and Equalities

Commission On Race and Ethnic Disparities

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when the first report of Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities will be published.

Kemi Badenoch: Since the Prime Minister established the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in July of this year, it has met with a broad range of stakeholders across sectors around the UK, in each of its priority areas. It has also held evidence gathering sessions with a range of external stakeholders and influencers, and launched a call for evidence on 26 October.The Commission will aim to report its findings to the Prime Minister at the end of the year.The Commission is independent, and its Commissioners have been appointed by the Prime Minister.

Equality: Training

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the Government's policy is on the use of unconscious bias training; and if she will make a statement.

Kemi Badenoch: The Government recognises that it is important to tackle bias in workplaces and in wider society, and it is good practice to use a range of evidence based measures to achieve this, and evaluate their success. The request for a statement on this has been noted and the Government will provide an update, detailing its position on unconscious bias training, in due course.

Disability: Employment and Equal Pay

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on tackling the disability (a) employment and (b) pay gap.

Kemi Badenoch: I have frequent discussions with the Minister for Disabled People, who has responsibility for these issues.Pay gaps are caused by a range of factors. To address them, we must ensure that everybody has equal access to opportunities.We support disabled people to enter employment and stay in work through a range of initiatives such as the Work and Health Programme, Access to Work and Employment Advice in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services. One of the key transformational elements of Universal Credit is that it provides us with the opportunity to support people who are in work to progress and increase their earnings.In November 2018, we published a voluntary reporting framework on disability, mental ill health and wellbeing. This is aimed at large employers (with over 250 employees) and it is recommended that they publicly report on the pay and progression of disabled people at regular intervals. The framework can also be used to support smaller employers who are keen to drive greater transparency in their organisation or industry.The Government will publish a National Strategy for Disabled People which will take into account the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people. The strategy will focus on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects of life, including employment.More broadly, while our current focus, rightly, is on helping to get people into work, our longer-term ambition, based on clear evidence about the importance of work in tacking poverty, remains to build an economy that gives everyone the opportunity to progress out of low pay.Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith is leading a time-limited Commission looking at how DWP, wider Government and employers can best support people to progress out of low pay, especially for those groups more likely to be in persistent low pay, such as disabled workers. The Commission has recently launched a call for evidence to help inform their report, which will be published in the new year: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/call-for-evidence-and-good-practice-on-in-work-progression.

Pupils: LGBT People

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has carried out an equality impact assessment on the potential effect on young people of the proposed removal of Government-funded projects that tackle LGBT+ bullying in schools.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what equality impact assessment his Department has undertaken of defunding the Government-backed projects tackling bullying of LGBT+ students in England's schools on young people.

Kemi Badenoch: We want to ensure that all children, whoever they are, are kept safe in schools. Since 2016, we have invested £4m to support schools in preventing and addressing homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, reaching 2,250 schools in England. This programme concluded in March 2020 and we are currently evaluating it.In our 2019 Manifesto, we made clear our commitment to continuing to help teachers tackle bullying, including homophobic bullying, and the Government is continuing to fund anti-bullying projects. The Department for Education announced £750k of funding in June for three charitable organisations, including a project for victims of hate-related bullying.We consider the Public Sector Equality Duty in everything we do, including the continuing delivery of our anti-bullying work.